No matter if you are a fan of the Football Manager franchise or not, you must know one thing: the game’s database is huge – the biggest any video game offers (370,000 players and staff all over the world). Of course, all the players are also very well researched, so today’s news is not such a big surprise: Everton (the real club) has signed an exclusive deal with Sports Interactive to gain access to that huge FM database and start recruiting wonderkids from all over the world.

The game has already predicted many of today’s super football players, like Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi, Freddy Adu and many, many more. Actually, Football Manager’s creators admit that they have been approached in the past with similar requests, but just Everton was the lucky one to hit the jackpot. Why? Because game’s creator Paul Collyer is a Toffees fan. And probably lots of cash were also involved in the business.

“The game’s database is a valuable resource with the most extensive scouting network in football so Everton FC is making a top signing. I am personally delighted with today’s announcement as I’m a Toffees fan. Standing on the pitch with my signing on shirt is as close to my boyhood dream of playing at Goodison Park as I will ever get,” admitted Collyer.

So now everybody has to keep their eyes on Everton and their future signings of youngsters. If in three, four years they’ll have a team of young talents, it’ll be clear that competition for Football Manager’s database will get very, very real. Until then, we’ll enjoy the great game, though. You can read our first Football Manager 2009 impressions and be sure to check back for the full review.