Player prices outragious as the years pass by

Anyone else noticed how much it costs to buy a world class youngster when you start getting into the 6th season and beyond?

I had to shell out £65m for one defender who was 24 and £98m for a 22 year old. I then went to buy a 21 year old and was expected to shell out £68m for him and he wasn't that good. It just seems completely unrealistic. Id understand if I was getting players like Messi but im not.

Anyone else noticed how much it costs to buy a world class youngster when you start getting into the 6th season and beyond?

I had to shell out £65m for one defender who was 24 and £98m for a 22 year old. I then went to buy a 21 year old and was expected to shell out £68m for him and he wasn't that good. It just seems completely unrealistic. Id understand if I was getting players like Messi but im not.

You are the one making it unrealistic by paying those prices.

Either work at the transfer to bring the figure down to a realistic price or find another transfer target.

You are the one making it unrealistic by paying those prices.

Either work at the transfer to bring the figure down to a realistic price or find another transfer target.

I have no choice, either buy a good player and buy a crap player. They originally all asked for over £100m and I got them down. I can't control what prices they are asking for. All my targets are asking between £80-180m I cant get a decent player for less than £50m.

I'm in 2018 running every league and there have only been two transfers over £40m during that time. A £20m transfer would still be one of the top 20 transfers ever.

You do have a choice.

sounds pretty realistic to me anyway. with teams like real madrid and man city now inflating the market its squite possible that in 6 years you will have to pay £60m for a good player rather thatn the more usual £25-30m now

You are the one making it unrealistic by paying those prices.

Either work at the transfer to bring the figure down to a realistic price or find another transfer target.

Couldn't agree more with that post. The AI are quoting silly prices much like I do when I do not really want to sell someone, you are then agreeing to pay it.

most i have payed for is a 21 year old regen defender, he had excellent stats, but he had bad concentration or something, and then i hardly played him. i havent had the chance to sign a ronaldo yet. don't feel the need to if my team is perfoming well.

I don't tend to buy 'known stars'. I am in the year 2016 now and half my side consists of academy players.

sounds pretty realistic to me anyway. with teams like real madrid and man city now inflating the market its squite possible that in 6 years you will have to pay £60m for a good player rather thatn the more usual £25-30m now

Its only realistic if teams income rises too- FM needs some kind of inflation model to make this realistic.

Sometimes it also depends how long the player has left on his contract. Normally young players have a long 4-5 year contract and if you want to buy that out then you will have to expect to pay a lot. You cannot expect to buy any player you set your sights on.

A lot of players are untouchable in real-life as they are only seen to be a 'man utd player' for example... such as Darren Fletcher. They are indispensable to the club for a reason.

Look to buy players that are unhappy, coming to an end of a contract or look for new talent.

Were these youngsters already at big clubs? I find if a talented youngster is at a high rep club, then they a worth alot more then if you could get them at a smaller club.

I'm in 2026. The biggest transfer in my game was 40 million, and that was a player I sold. So I don't think that the transfer system goes crazy in later games.

Players in my game ar going from £15-40m on average. My scouts cant find any good youngsters to get em cheap. Having said that I have now got the worlds best centre back which cost me £68m

The biggest transfer in my 2022 game so far is Diego for 58 million euros, I had also turned down a 76 million bid for one of my player. But those are pretty rare, big transfers tend to be between 20-30 million euros

You are the one making it unrealistic by paying those prices.

Either work at the transfer to bring the figure down to a realistic price or find another transfer target.

Sorry, but hes not the one pushing prices up. Thats the AI :confused:

Sorry, but hes not the one pushing prices up. Thats the AI :confused:

He is the one choosing to pay the inflated price.

He is the one choosing to pay the inflated price.

Thats a quite outrageous attempt at justification. In the world today there have only been a handful of 50m+ transfers and theyve all involved the top players in the world. Similarly, there arent many clubs in the world how would reject a 50m+ offer for any of their players. As the old adage goes, every player has their price. Some of the valuations of distinctly average players in FM are beyond a joke and highlight unbelievably well the inherent and long lasting flaws in the transfer system in game.

Thats a quite outrageous attempt at justification. In the world today there have only been a handful of 50m+ transfers and theyve all involved the top players in the world. Similarly, there arent many clubs in the world how would reject a 50m+ offer for any of their players. As the old adage goes, every player has their price. Some of the valuations of distinctly average players in FM are beyond a joke and highlight unbelievably well the inherent and long lasting flaws in the transfer system in game.

Thats rubbish, why don't we turn the discussion around.

What gives him the right to sign that player?

Why should the AI club sell him the player?

Why should the player choose to sign for him?

Likewise looking at RL:

Ask yourself why have we not seen many RL transfers above £50m?

How many players have left big clubs in the last ten years when they have been happy and playing?

Real Madrid worked for over two years to get Ronaldo from Man Utd and even then it cost them £80m.

The biggest problem with FM users/transfers is they expect to pick a name off a list and have them in their team within a couple of clicks - This simple isn't the way it works.

The AI should sell the player because a real life club in the same situation would have no issue accepting it. The player choosing to sign for him is another matter entirely, and has nothing to do with the inflated fee.

Quoting Ronaldo at me is useless, because he was, at the time the top player in the world. In that situation, of course any club is going to want massive amounts of money, and arent going to just let him go at the drop of a hat. Its not really relevant, as the OP himself stated that these players werent exactly world greats. Similarly i was talking about generally, and on average. Thus providing one example, especially that of Ronaldo, is extremely biased and is just twisting facts to suit your agenda.

Ill fire more questions back at you.

If Arsenal got £30m for Walcott, would that be accepted? Probably.

If Chelsea were offered £30m for Malouda would that be accepted? Probably

If Spurs got offered £30m for Lennon would that be accepted? Probably.

In the game, I would expect to have to pay double what I would expect to be relevant in real life, and thats just not right.

The AI should sell the player because a real life club in the same situation would have no issue accepting it. The player choosing to sign for him is another matter entirely, and has nothing to do with the inflated fee.

I'm sorry but in all honesty what were you smoking when you wrote this down? The only time when a club has to sell at a certain price is when they've agreed a release clause with the player and that price is matched.

On your three examples I could easily argue the opposite for the first two, and argue that the only person willing to shell out that kind of money for a middling player like Lennon is already managing Spurs.

The reasons why Arsenal IMO wouldn't sell Walcott 1) they don't need the money, it would be nice but not needed. 2) Wegner would probably walk out the door if they did, and take half the team with him.

Chelsea not selling Malouda 1) Again they won't need the money (atm) and 2) why would you sell your best player unless 1 above didn't apply, especially when you're looking for glory and he's happy where he is.

Ludicrous rationale if you really believe £30m bids would be turned down for those players.

Baffling.

A club that doesn't need the money and doesn't need to sell a player because he hasn't expressed a desire to leave, and this player is a key player in his prime is not going to sell him for anything other a stupid amount of money.

Ronaldo wanted to leave for Madrid and he still cost £80 million. If he had wanted to stay it is likely Madrid would have had to offer twice that, and even then there is no guarentee Ferguson would have sold.

These transfer fees are realistic. It's clicking accept when Inter demand 140 Million Euros that is unrealistic.

To solve this problem, scout better and sign them early, tap them up and make them unsettled. Fail to do this and you will have to pay rediculous sums of money to buy him.

Ill fire more questions back at you.

If Arsenal got £30m for Walcott, would that be accepted? Probably.

If Chelsea were offered £30m for Malouda would that be accepted? Probably

If Spurs got offered £30m for Lennon would that be accepted? Probably.

In the game, I would expect to have to pay double what I would expect to be relevant in real life, and thats just not right.

and which club would pick the phone up and offer £30m for any of those players tomorrow?

The answer is none, if they were interested in the player they would scout, monitor, enquire & negotiate.

Again, if you asked Wenger tomorrow how much for Walcott, would he say £30m? no. If you pushed and said you were serious chances are he would start at a much higher value. Eventually they possibly would settle for £30m but only after significant negotiating and it would probably still need Walcott to make it known he wants to move on.

Haha you have a totally blinkered view of world football if you think someone could offer £30m and be turned down

Haha you have a totally blinkered view of world football if you think someone could offer £30m and be turned down

Why don't you have a read of this recent article, it may open your eyes a little.

Telegraph

I'll just quote this little part for you as well:

There is still a deep regret among Abramovich's coterie that the informal £50 million offer for Thierry Henry, then of Arsenal, was only put to David Dein, who dismissed it out-of-hand, and not taken to the club's board for a proper discussion.

Yet again you direct me to players who are among the best in the world. Slightly different class of player to Lennon, Walcott and Lennon.

Neither I or the OP have manetioned that calibre of player yet you keep going back to it and using it as some vague reference point in a meagre attempt to justify an ill-made point. As I alluded to above, there are certain players in the world you can expect to move for a high fee, but there are two things I must add.

The players who demand these fees will be the creme de la creme of world football, and not above average players, as FM would have us believe.

The fee in real life will still be significantly less than that in the game.

You mean like the £30 million for Berbatov, the £25.6 million for an 18 year old Wayne Rooney or the £29 million for Rio Ferdinand? Players nowhere near the best in the world when they were bought for those sums.

How much would they cost at their peak?

I'm in 2051 and the three most expensive transfers not involving my club are £43.5m, £40.5m and £38m.

Yet again you direct me to players who are among the best in the world. Slightly different class of player to Lennon, Walcott and Lennon.

Not sure what you are getting at here, you are the one that brought those players into the discussion.

The class of player makes no difference to the discussion as we were discussing player vs price.

Neither I or the OP have manetioned that calibre of player yet you keep going back to it and using it as some vague reference point in a meagre attempt to justify an ill-made point. As I alluded to above, there are certain players in the world you can expect to move for a high fee, but there are two things I must add.

OP said one player was the best DC in the world.

The players who demand these fees will be the creme de la creme of world football, and not above average players, as FM would have us believe.

I'll say again:

In my save there have only been two transfers in excess of £40m in ten seasons with another four between £30m & £40m.

Thats six transfers of over £30m in ten seasons, it seems realistic to me!

The fee in real life will still be significantly less than that in the game.

Because in RL managers/owners/agents negotiate transfers/make more effort than many FM users do.

On top of that they refuse to pay inflated prices that some FM users do.

Well that has proved my point really. Berbatov signed when he was 27, so he was probably just hitting his peak. Add to that his previous two seasons at Spurs being highly successful and you can see this could be considered the going rate. In FM I would expect a player of this quality to be sold for around £40-50m-ish, if not more, with that lower figure being an extremely generous offering. Even at that, its £10m more than the real life figure.

You provide a figure of £25.6m for Rooney, and there are a few things to say about that. Firstly, it had the "english player tax" which would have inflated the fee slightly. Secondly, he made a massive impact in his first few games as a teenager - that rarely, if ever, happens in FM as the regens that come through simply arent designed to make such an impact until they have a few years development behind them. Despite these two issues probably warping the fee, I am very happy to take this figure at face value and discuss it. £25.6m for the best english player of his generation, with more time to develop, against a player at £68m who is older, and is described by the OP as "not that great".

Couldnt be bothered mentioning Rio as its pretty much along the same lines.

Cougar - the calibre of player is relevant as you keep referring me back to players who are obviously in the top 10 of the world. Im not talking about that level because it can expected that these players will command slightly higher fees than normal.

The level of players in question are those who are above average, but to quote the OP, "not that great". In real life a sizeable bid of around 20-30m ( to generalise) would be enough for these clubs to agree to sell without much thought. That just doesnt happen in FM.

Also, if you can please allude to how many many of those high priced transfers were yours, and when you purchased said players,that would be most noteworthy.

Well that has proved my point really. Berbatov signed when he was 27, so he was probably just hitting his peak. Add to that his previous two seasons at Spurs being highly successful and you can see this could be considered the going rate. In FM I would expect a player of this quality to be sold for around £40-50m-ish, if not more, with that lower figure being an extremely generous offering. Even at that, its £10m more than the real life figure.

You provide a figure of £25.6m for Rooney, and there are a few things to say about that. Firstly, it had the "english player tax" which would have inflated the fee slightly. Secondly, he made a massive impact in his first few games as a teenager - that rarely, if ever, happens in FM as the regens that come through simply arent designed to make such an impact until they have a few years development behind them. Despite these two issues probably warping the fee, I am very happy to take this figure at face value and discuss it. £25.6m for the best english player of his generation, with more time to develop, against a player at £68m who is older, and is described by the OP as "not that great".

Couldnt be bothered mentioning Rio as its pretty much along the same lines.

Berba was playing well at spurs but he was no where near the best in the world.

England tax or not, how often do teams pay upwards of 20 million for an 18 yr old?

Regarding Ferdinand, the only other transfer of defender being more than 20 million that I know of was Dmytro Chygrynskiy's move to barcelona this summer....and he doesn't even start for them.

The game only really gives a good model of the transfer market in transfers between AI clubs though. As soon as you throw a human manager in there the balance is thrown a bit by the actions of the human. If the human acts realistically then I'd like to think the game presents a decent model.

If you are going to make comparisons with real life then it is only fair to look at AI transfers only.

the transfer fee's as far as i know haven't been that unrealistic so far for me.

Berba was playing well at spurs but he was no where near the best in the world.

England tax or not, how often do teams pay upwards of 20 million for an 18 yr old?

Regarding Ferdinand, the only other transfer of defender being more than 20 million that I know of was Dmytro Chygrynskiy's move to barcelona this summer....and he doesn't even start for them.

Which is my point. He was an above average player in good form for which the fee of £30m was suitable. In FM such a player at such a level at such a stage in his career would comfortably cost double that.

Same goes for your Rooney point - they dont often pay that much. But in FM, any sort of future premiership player can cost a considerable amount. Which is unrealsitic.

And finally your point on Ferdinand once again accentuates what I am trying to say. This OP states he had to pay £68m for the best defender - that has never, and probably wont for a long time, happen(ed) in real life. How anyone can claim such a fee is realistic is beyond belief.

To the OP:

I know that the fees seem ridiculous but I wouldn't say that they are completely unrealistic. The current market has gotten bloated because of the spending sprees that both man city and real madrid went on (there's also zlatans move to barca which I though was way too high).

Another factor that also needs to be considered is inflation. Inflation causes prices to go up every year, in all areas of the economic market and not just in football, so I think you should see an increase in transfer fees as the years pass to some degree.

Also, if you can please allude to how many many of those high priced transfers were yours, and when you purchased said players,that would be most noteworthy.

I feel like I'm repeating myself on this forum

For the record, every league/division loaded - These are the top 25 transfers as of 19.04.18 and NONE have involved any of my teams.

Leading Transfers

Cougar - the calibre of player is relevant as you keep referring me back to players who are obviously in the top 10 of the world. Im not talking about that level because it can expected that these players will command slightly higher fees than normal.

Your point was that the AI inflates prices.

In that respect the level of player makes no difference.

Doesn't the user also inflate prices when selling?

Last season one of my best midfielders was homesick, he had two seasons left on his contract and was valued at £20k. I offered him out for £100k and eventually accepted several offers of £50k. Had he not been homesick I wouldn't have accepted anything under £100k minimum and I would have been countering offers with an asking price of £250k.

I don't see any difference between what a user does and what the AI does.

The level of players in question are those who are above average, but to quote the OP, "not that great". In real life a sizeable bid of around 20-30m ( to generalise) would be enough for these clubs to agree to sell without much thought. That just doesnt happen in FM.

I simply don't believe that.

Which is my point. He was an above average player in good form for which the fee of £30m was suitable. In FM such a player at such a level at such a stage in his career would comfortably cost double that.

Same goes for your Rooney point - they dont often pay that much. But in FM, any sort of future premiership player can cost a considerable amount. Which is unrealsitic.

And finally your point on Ferdinand once again accentuates what I am trying to say. This OP states he had to pay £68m for the best defender - that has never, and probably wont for a long time, happen(ed) in real life. How anyone can claim such a fee is realistic is beyond belief.

30 million was too much for a player like berbatov and the only reason that they paid that much for him was because it was the last day of the window and they needed a forward because of the fact they had a bit of an injury crisis at the time.

In a world where fabio cannavaro can win world player of the year, I wouldn't be suprised that someday defenders could get valued as much as goal scorers.

Oh and its his fault for not being better at negotiating

And finally your point on Ferdinand once again accentuates what I am trying to say. This OP states he had to pay £68m for the best defender - that has never, and probably wont for a long time, happen(ed) in real life. How anyone can claim such a fee is realistic is beyond belief.

and the circle is complete.

No-one is saying it is realistic, they are saying that the OP is making it unrealistic by choosing to pay that amount.

Your point was that the AI inflates prices.

In that respect the level of player makes no difference.

Doesn't the user also inflate prices when selling?

Last season one of my best midfielders was homesick, he had two seasons left on his contract and was valued at £20k. I offered him out for £100k and eventually accepted several offers of £50k. Had he not been homesick I wouldn't have accepted anything under £100k minimum and I would have been countering offers with an asking price of £250k.

I don't see any difference between what a user does and what the AI does.

Mate, Im fed up repeating myself. The top players in the world will come with a massive premium. Players who are above average dont carry this premium in real life, but seem to in the game. Hence its quite acceptable to ignore the extreme examples of the top players who automatically have a premium and concentrate on the next layer of players. Even at that £68m for the top defender is insane.

I simply don't believe that.

Then you dont understand the pricing of players in football.

30 million was too much for a player like berbatov and the only reason that they paid that much for him was because it was the last day of the window and they needed a forward because of the fact they had a bit of an injury crisis at the time.

In a world where fabio cannavaro can win world player of the year, I wouldn't be suprised that someday defenders could get valued as much as goal scorers.

Oh and its his fault for not being better at negotiating

If berbatov was worth less and inflated then that adds more to my arguement. Even with the extra money Man Utd were willing to pay the fee was still nowhere near the fee i would except such a player to move for in the game.

and the circle is complete.

No-one is saying it is realistic, they are saying that the OP is making it unrealistic by choosing to pay that amount.

The circle is complete? Im not sure what youre getting at then.

So you agree the transfer system in game is unrealistic then?? :confused:

The transfer system is undoubtedly flawed on this game. It's okay demanding self-moderation when the AI isn't up to scratch, but it's not really good enough. Much like the reputation system which saw me offered the AC Milan job whilst managing a team with an 800 seat (150 seated) stadium in the Northern Irish Premiership, it is an area which must be looked at it.

I don't understand the inherent need to insulate the game from criticism. Criticism, providing it is both fair and constructive, allows them to make a better game. Instead we have people on here claiming that the player is making it unrealistic by paying those prices. Transfer prices are very inflated and teams want far too much for average players. It's certainly something which should be looked at.

Mate, Im fed up repeating myself. The top players in the world will come with a massive premium. Players who are above average dont carry this premium in real life, but seem to in the game. Hence its quite acceptable to ignore the extreme examples of the top players who automatically have a premium and concentrate on the next layer of players. Even at that £68m for the top defender is insane.

I fully agree, so why pay it???

I wouldn't, managers in RL wouldn't and other AI clubs don't. In fact the AI doesn't expect the user paying it either.

Then you dont understand the pricing of players in football.

I do, but you don't seem to understand the amount of work that goes into a transfer in RL that leads to a final price being agreed.

If berbatov was worth less and inflated then that adds more to my arguement. Even with the extra money Man Utd were willing to pay the fee was still nowhere near the fee i would except such a player to move for in the game.

I would suggest you play the game for yourself and see what sort of money players can be bought for.

The circle is complete? Im not sure what youre getting at then.

So you agree the transfer system in game is unrealistic then?? :confused:

My first post in this thread was post #2.

I stated that the user made it unrealistic by paying the inflated prices. Without these types of transfers (which always involve a human user) the transfer market looks fine and realistic.

The transfer system is undoubtedly flawed on this game. It's okay demanding self-moderation when the AI isn't up to scratch, but it's not really good enough. Much like the reputation system which saw me offered the AC Milan job whilst managing a team with an 800 seat (150 seated) stadium in the Northern Irish Premiership, it is an area which must be looked at it.

So you gave yourself a high reputation then complain when the game offers you a job at a high reputation club :confused:

I don't understand the inherent need to insulate the game from criticism. Criticism, providing it is both fair and constructive, allows them to make a better game. Instead we have people on here claiming that the player is making it unrealistic by paying those prices. Transfer prices are very inflated and teams want far too much for average players. It's certainly something which should be looked at.

In previous versions you were told to get stuffed by the AI clubs and users complained.

Now they are quoted a high price and they still complain, SI can't win.

Users have to understand that AI clubs have the right to not want to sell their good players just like you don't want to sell your good players.

I fully agree, so why pay it???

I wouldn't, managers in RL wouldn't and other AI clubs don't. In fact the AI doesn't expect the user paying it either.

But theres no choice is you want a good player :confused:

I do, but you don't seem to understand the amount of work that goes into a transfer in RL that leads to a final price being agreed.

Why should things that arent simulated in the game have an effect on transfer fee? The game isnt geared towards long negotiations - its set up so that the final fee is the only real goal. If these parameters you mention are to have an effect they have to be in game.

I would suggest you play the game for yourself and see what sort of money players can be bought for.

I have played extensively over the years - I dont wish to peddle this point to much as it doesnt make my point any more / less valid than anyone else.

My first post in this thread was post #2.

I stated that the user made it unrealistic by paying the inflated prices. Without these types of transfers (which always involve a human user) the transfer market looks fine and realistic.

Yeah but in your last post you stated that noone said it wasnt unrealistic, only that the used made it unrealistic. So you must agree that the transfer system is flawed then? And surely you can appreciate that, as a user is a necessity, it kind of makes a bit of a problem?

In previous versions you were told to get stuffed by the AI clubs and users complained.

Now they are quoted a high price and they still complain, SI can't win.

Users have to understand that AI clubs have the right to not want to sell their good players just like you don't want to sell your good players.

You dont seem to be getting this. Youve pointed out the issue in your own post, so hopefully you can appreciate that because the AI offers inflated prices, that the transfer system is flawed. Why cant they just get it right?

And as much as they dont want to sell their best players, there are just certain amounts of money for certain players that would never be rejected ie my mention of Walcott, Lennon and Malouda above. These sorts of player would cost well in excess of their real life fee in the game.

But theres no choice is you want a good player :confused:

There is always a choice, find another target or work to lower the cost of that one.

What does Ferguson or Wenger do? Do they say there is no choice?

Why should things that arent simulated in the game have an effect on transfer fee? The game isnt geared towards long negotiations - its set up so that the final fee is the only real goal. If these parameters you mention are to have an effect they have to be in game.

They are.

Get on the players favoured list, praise him, make friends with the opposition manager, keep plugging away at the negotiating.

You won't always get your target, especially if its a bigger club and the player is happy but there is more you can do than the average FM user tries.

Yeah but in your last post you stated that noone said it wasnt unrealistic, only that the used made it unrealistic. So you must agree that the transfer system is flawed then? And surely you can appreciate that, as a user is a necessity, it kind of makes a bit of a problem?

I can see how it could have been misinterpreted and I did think about rephrasing it.

People are saying paying that price is unrealistic, the AI quoting that price as part of negotiating is fine.

So you gave yourself a high reputation then complain when the game offers you a job at a high reputation club :confused:

You think?

I'm not usually one to get uppity and go to this bother, but that's what happened. I had Sunday League experience. Now, that latter picture is taken a couple of years after the Milan offer when I had Continental reputation after a run in the Champions League group stages, but the AC Milan offer came after a run in the UEFA Cup Group Stages. Do you really think that's realistic?

That offer even came through before I beat Braga at home in the group stages. My record was a draw with Bordeaux at home, a draw with Braga away and defeats away to Bordeaux and home and away to Slavia Prague. I couldn't even claim a reputation increase on account of a major win.

There is always a choice, find another target or work to lower the cost of that one.

What does Ferguson or Wenger do? Do they say there is no choice?

Nah but they arent dealing with an overinflated simulation. They deal in the real world, where even players like Ribery will only reach 35-40m tops.

They are.

Get on the players favoured list, praise him, make friends with the opposition manager, keep plugging away at the negotiating.

You won't always get your target, especially if its a bigger club and the player is happy but there is more you can do than the average FM user tries.

You mentioned this like it was some sort of justification for having an increased fee. If theyre in game, then why should the fee be increased?

I can see how it could have been misinterpreted and I did think about rephrasing it.

People are saying paying that price is unrealistic, the AI quoting that price as part of negotiating is fine.

But the AI quoting the price as far too high isnt fine at all :confused: Its totally unrealstic to want an absurd amount of money for an above average player. You said as much in your last post. Every year it seems to fluctuate between one extreme and the other.It needs to a hit a middle ground thats been missing since the inception of FM.

You dont seem to be getting this. Youve pointed out the issue in your own post, so hopefully you can appreciate that because the AI offers inflated prices, that the transfer system is flawed. Why cant they just get it right?

And as much as they dont want to sell their best players, there are just certain amounts of money for certain players that would never be rejected ie my mention of Walcott, Lennon and Malouda above. These sorts of player would cost well in excess of their real life fee in the game.

Whats wrong with inflating the price?

Do you not inflate the price when you try to sell a player?

I don't have a problem with the AI inflating prices as IMO its realistic.

Just looked at my save out of interest:

Malouda - Chelsea sold him to Lyon for £4.3m on 19.08.10

Lennon - Still at Tottenham valued at £13m for a 31yo with over 50 England caps

Walcott - Still at Arsenal valued at £12.5m for a 29yo with nearly 50 England caps