Anyone else find it EXTREMELY difficult to sign players a few seasons in?

[louiscfc]

Just signed for Man Utd at start of third season and I have endless supplies of money to spend but I literally cannot buy anyone who's actually decent.

Prices for players are so inflated that even for an average player, clubs are demanding £20m plus for them. Then when you trying signing the likes of Koke, Pogba, Gundogan, Thiago, Varane and other players around that level i'm gonna have to pay £60m + for them.

Unfortunately, the wonderkids you can get for peanuts have all moved clubs and those with release clauses have all signed new deals so I'm pretty much stuck, especially when United have a fairly ageing squad 3 seasons in.

I don't remember it being this hard to buy good players in previous FM's. Maybe £20-30m for the better players but not upwards of £60m. Is anyone elses game like this? Or has my transfer market just inflated to a new level? Teams have been spending a lot on average players so far in this save so that could be the reason why...

 

[whufc1966]

It's matching what is happening in real life. Do you really think people like Pogba are going to leave in real life for £20-£30 million?

More and more money is getting pumped into football, meaning transfer prices increase. FM is just replicating this.

 

[louiscfc]

It's matching what is happening in real life. Do you really think people like Pogba are going to leave in real life for £20-£30 million?

More and more money is getting pumped into football, meaning transfer prices increase. FM is just replicating this.

I'm pretty sure if someone offered £40m for Pogba they would accept it. I'm not even talking about the pinnacle of world class players, i'm talking about the ones who still have a lot to prove. God knows how much the likes of Bale, Neymar, Messi etc. would actually cost in-game.

Yes, IRL player prices are becoming inflated but this is mainly because of the dramatically increased TV deals which gives clubs a lot more money to spend but this rise in TV deals isn't as replicated in FM. So whilst player prices are increasing in-game, clubs aren't necessarily getting the added money to spend like they do IRL. Making it harder and harder as the save progresses to sign top players. This may not be totally accurate but seems like the only possible reason as to why everyone has become so expensive.

 

[elyybourgess]

That's the beauty of the game tbh, you have to scout to get good players on a decent transfer fee or go for players in the last season of their contracts.

 

[Harris4Ips]

Declaring an interest in a transfer can make a player unsettled.
In turn that can sometimes have a bad effect on other players morale.

Like when your player wants to leave the club, he doesnt stop going on about it until he finally gets his transfer.
even if you done when the player has 3/4 years left of his contract. Youl find you can either wait until the last year of his contract and pretty much get his for his valuation or just under. Or, somewhere along the line before then, you may hit tbe jackpot with a player forcing a move and then you can get him for a cut price fee.

in the long run, it will require, scouting and patience. But again, this reflecting real life.
how often do you hear when a player has signed for a team, that they had been scouting him for years!

 

[elyybourgess]

Declaring an interest in a transfer can make a player unsettled.
In turn that can sometimes have a bad effect on other players morale.

Like when your player wants to leave the club, he doesnt stop going on about it until he finally gets his transfer.
even if you done when the player has 3/4 years left of his contract. Youl find you can either wait until the last year of his contract and pretty much get his for his valuation or just under. Or, somewhere along the line before then, you may hit tbe jackpot with a player forcing a move and then you can get him for a cut price fee.

in the long run, it will require, scouting and patience. But again, this reflecting real life.
how often do you hear when a player has signed for a team, that they had been scouting him for years!

That's true I really think people get anxious to signing a player no matter how long he has left in his contract, and they only go for the obvious ones. Always look for bargains you might get a player better than the other and would cost less than half

 

[Harris4Ips]

That's true I really think people get anxious to signing a player no matter how long he has left in his contract, and they only go for the obvious ones. Always look for bargains you might get a player better than the other and would cost less than half

it can take longer to find those bargains.
Even the regens now are harder because theres no set date for them. So now you have to just randomly keep looking and hope you find them before theyve signed a proffessional contract.

I done all my transfers in the first season. Basically i signed a load of wonderkids who already have really good ability but spred the mjaority of the payment over 48months. This way only a little bit of your transfer budget is used.
Be careful of using this method though, because if your transfer budget then becomes higher than your actual balance over the next 3-4 years.
Projection shows my finances getting worse each year. So now all i need to do is keep a look out for the regens. And once 4 years has passed i can look at getting back into the transfer market if need be.
Sounds like bit of a risk but That way my team is effectively sorted for years to come. Now all i need is maybe to sign a player or two here n there if need be.
My 2nd season, all ive bought are a couple of cheap young players and zivkovic

 

[louiscfc]

The players get upset but they dont get transfer listed so I cant get them cheaper... :/ The most annoying thing is other teams are bidding the same amounts or less and get the offers accepted whilst i'm getting mugged off.

 

[Harris4Ips]

If you delcare interest every so often and keep an eye on his morale, eventually, if hes morale is low and hes not being played as much or playing as well, other players will get upset he isnt being allowed to leave too.

They will give in eventually.

Ive got cazorla unhappy and wanting to leave ive tried persuading him to stay but now the only thing i can do is say il sell him. Which goes down as a promise.

As a result, wilshere and khedira were unhappy i didnt sell him in first transfer window. So january i must sell him.


Man city didnt get in champs league and im currently poaching Aguero, declaring interest 3 times this season has resulted in this ....
View attachment 313217


Hopefully i can sign him in January or end of season. I wont pay over £30m for him. Hoping i can get him at cut price. If i do, il leave another screenshot so you can see it works for the human user as well as the ai

 

[Sherkey]

I'm pretty sure if someone offered £40m for Pogba they would accept it. I'm not even talking about the pinnacle of world class players, i'm talking about the ones who still have a lot to prove. God knows how much the likes of Bale, Neymar, Messi etc. would actually cost in-game.

You're kidding me, right? There's no way in **** that will happen. Around 60-70 Million plus future clauses IRL, probably. FM is loads better in that regard - I got Pogba for 80 M $ plus 50% sell-on clause in the second season for United.

The players get upset but they dont get transfer listed so I cant get them cheaper... :/ The most annoying thing is other teams are bidding the same amounts or less and get the offers accepted whilst i'm getting mugged off.

The other teams bidding the same amount would probably have added clauses in that will take the total amount to a lot higher.

 

[RichTUK]

The players get upset but they dont get transfer listed so I cant get them cheaper... :/ The most annoying thing is other teams are bidding the same amounts or less and get the offers accepted whilst i'm getting mugged off.

yea but if you have come out and said you will do anything to buy him, or that you want him at your club then a good manager at the selling team will know he can bump the price up for you. If it was as easy as upsetting the player and getting him transfer listed then it would be far too easy. I dont think it's that hard to get players really, I got Pogba for 45 mil in 2018/19 and Alaba for 54 mil the season before and think thats pretty realistic if not a little on the low side. 54 mil is the most ive had to spend to get a world class player.

 

[louiscfc]

yea but if you have come out and said you will do anything to buy him, or that you want him at your club then a good manager at the selling team will know he can bump the price up for you. If it was as easy as upsetting the player and getting him transfer listed then it would be far too easy.

Never declared interest though. They rejected my initial offer and the player moaned at his manager and was listed as unhappy. Tried bidding again and they wont budge in price and that is for multiple players. Not sure how you got Pogba for £40m. I offered that as well as Falcao, Vertonghen and Nani and they wanted all of them plus £197m

 

[elyybourgess]

it can take longer to find those bargains.
Even the regens now are harder because theres no set date for them. So now you have to just randomly keep looking and hope you find them before theyve signed a proffessional contract.

I done all my transfers in the first season. Basically i signed a load of wonderkids who already have really good ability but spred the mjaority of the payment over 48months. This way only a little bit of your transfer budget is used.
Be careful of using this method though, because if your transfer budget then becomes higher than your actual balance over the next 3-4 years.
Projection shows my finances getting worse each year. So now all i need to do is keep a look out for the regens. And once 4 years has passed i can look at getting back into the transfer market if need be.
Sounds like bit of a risk but That way my team is effectively sorted for years to come. Now all i need is maybe to sign a player or two here n there if need be.
My 2nd season, all ive bought are a couple of cheap young players and zivkovic

I never get really really costly players no matter which season I am in to be honest

 

[RichTUK]

Never declared interest though. They rejected my initial offer and the player moaned at his manager and was listed as unhappy. Tried bidding again and they wont budge in price and that is for multiple players. Not sure how you got Pogba for £40m. I offered that as well as Falcao, Vertonghen and Nani and they wanted all of them plus £197m

Oh well, some times a player just isnt for sale

 

[vjcsmoke]

Yup you have to wait for the timing to be right and for your club reputation to be high enough. Which means you better have been winning the Premier Division, some cups, and maybe a UEFA Champions Cup or two before world class players will be interested in signing for you. As a side note, Neymar cost me 85m to sign, but that was only after Barcelona failed to win their division and I had won quite a bit of trophies for my side, inflating its reputation. The best way is to find young talent and develop them. Find bargains, grown them into stars for your side. Example - Lucas Romero and Eder Alvarez Balanta at the beginning of the game is a no brainer if you can stretch your budget to get both you have 2 world class superstars for the future for under 15m combined. But you need to play them and train them properly.