On what basis does the AI sign players?

Fairly simple question really.

Does the AI buy players based on a players CA/PA, a players rating/potential rating (viewable on programs like GenieScout and FMRTE), their performances, how poor their current player is for that position or something else?

Or is a combination of two or more of these?

Basically it's reputation above all else. Then it's CA/PA.

Ahh, I forgot about reputation. Correct me if i'm wrong, but at the start of the game I think David Beckham has a worldwide reputation. Why don't any of the top sides want him?

They generally look to ensure that Man City aren't also bidding

Reputation. Thats why big clubs buy players for crazy money that they dont even need. Like signing a winger when they play with a diamond formation and he only plays about 5 games all season.

They generally look to ensure that Man City aren't also bidding

I think that's more us then the AI:D

Ahh, I forgot about reputation. Correct me if i'm wrong, but at the start of the game I think David Beckham has a worldwide reputation. Why don't any of the top sides want him?

Because the other factors don't add up. I'd guess his CA is too low considering his wage demands. Plus he's too old. And the 'worldwide' description is not a direct reflection of the variable visible to AI.

I think that if the AI does sign players based on reputation then it gives an explanation why AI squad building is terrible. Surely there is a better way which could be implemented in order to improve squad building. Such as players are signed on CA/PA or current and potential ratings.

Youngsters with low rep but high potential aren't being signed by the AI on my game, which, in various saves has lead to both Chelsea and Man Utd being relegated within 10 seasons.

Basically it's reputation above all else. Then it's CA/PA.

Percieved CA/PA. Or in other words, it can and does get it wrong.

I've noticed alot of players that get signed and then play a ridiculously low amount of games. I hope this is improved on fm10 coz it just makes the game seem really unrealistic when theres an obvious lack of subbing and rotation going on.

i remember one podcast miles said that all clubs have a shortlist of sorts and that contributes to the signing of players by the AI

i remember one podcast miles said that all clubs have a shortlist of sorts and that contributes to the signing of players by the AI

Indeed, when starting a new game you will see a progress bar for "manager shortlists". This would be a list of players thatc ertain managers are intereste din signing at the start of the game and probably part of the reason why Mutu ended up at Arsenal in everyone's game on 08.

superowl, that will make sense since certain players are almost 100% going to sign for a particular team unless I interfere =)

I've just finished my 2nd season and Juventus have bought, and then sold, £60m-worth of attacking midfielders because none of them were getting a regular game. At one point they had both Diego and Danny in their reserve team.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of logic in a club's signing patterns. I often see clubs signing players for positions they already have cover for or, even worse, singing a player who doesn't even fit into their preferred formation.

Maybe there's also a slight problem with the methods used to determine which club a player chooses as well. For example, if two clubs both bid for a player it seems that he'll normally go to the one with the best reputation but squad status and wages also factor in. Perhaps they should also consider the squad they're going to as well so if there are already two players designated as First Team or Key Players in their position that may cause them to favour another club's offer.

Don't forget the AI cannot "see" CA and PA, only make the same judgements the human players' scouts can. An AI manager cannot even "see" 20 for finishing, only look at his current performances and reputation. As for a PA of 178 or whatever, they only have a very sketchy view unless that player is already at the AI manager's club.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of logic in a club's signing patterns. I often see clubs signing players for positions they already have cover for or, even worse, singing a player who doesn't even fit into their preferred formation.

I have seen this happen a lot of times in my previous saves. If i can recall correctly, it was Manchester City who had signed their usual bunch of players in the opening transfer window, and 2 seasons on the player they signed for £40 million hadn't played one game since he had joined the club, he was just rotting away in the reserves.

There's still the old problem of them paying huge amounts for players that don't fit into their formation. In one of my games, Chelsea appointed a manager who didn't like using wingers (actually, it might even have been Big Phil - IIRC his favoured formation is a narrow 4-1-3-1-1 or some such). Yet they kept buying wingers. They'd buy a couple of wingers, who'd never play, complain constantly, and get sold for half their cost in the next transfer window. Then, they'd buy two more wingers. Of the course of 4 seasons, they must've had a net outlay of over 100m (including the money back from selling) on wingers they didn't use...