Dealing with difficult agents

There's a player I want to sign currently at Ajax, the player wants to come, I've got the funds but the sticking point is his agent. On top of a £12m transfer he wants a £3.5m signing on fee for himself, and wants the players wages to increase 5 fold from £20k to £105k. Whilst its affordable for the club, its simply not within my wage structure, the most I'll let players earn is £70k a week between wages and appearance fees, so I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to deal with this agent. I walked out of negotiations once and then interacted with the player through the media, he's still very keen. As its January I have the rest of the season to try and get him before the summer, so is it worth walking away several times to make the agent realise that the deal simply isn't going to happen as he wants, or waiting until the summer and trying again?

I ask because I assume some people have begun trying to play the agents to force them into lowering demands which is what I need to do here.

if you walk away from a deal the agent (or player if no agent is employed) will not talk to you for a while (fromm weeks to months).

offering an agent more money will usually make them accept lower wages, fees, etc...

try befriending the player beforehand. more likely to see a more favourable offer if you get on.

apart from the above the simple fact remains. if a player is joining a club with a lot of money available then they will expect to be paid more, especially if your club is the bigger club.

Well my side are bigger than Ajax, but even with 2 premiership titles we're a world apart from Chelsea, Man Utd, Barcelona etc. He's good, good enough to command the wages he wants in all honesty, but still I'll just sign someone else on principle if his agent wants to be greedy, it was a £12m deal working out costing the club closer to £20m which is just too much for one player - at least until I have big enough cash reserves to not even notice it going out.

There's a player I want to sign currently at Ajax, the player wants to come, I've got the funds but the sticking point is his agent. On top of a £12m transfer he wants a £3.5m signing on fee for himself, and wants the players wages to increase 5 fold from £20k to £105k. Whilst its affordable for the club, its simply not within my wage structure, the most I'll let players earn is £70k a week between wages and appearance fees, so I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to deal with this agent. I walked out of negotiations once and then interacted with the player through the media, he's still very keen. As its January I have the rest of the season to try and get him before the summer, so is it worth walking away several times to make the agent realise that the deal simply isn't going to happen as he wants, or waiting until the summer and trying again?

I ask because I assume some people have begun trying to play the agents to force them into lowering demands which is what I need to do here.

Ok, first of all, Walking out of negotiations is not a good move and you're only hurting your own chances of signing that player, or any other player with that same agent. Basically, walking out on negotiations affects your relationship with the agent, going from indifferent, to dislike, to fierce dislike, to hatred!

So, try to agree terms in as few attempts at negotiations as possible. The more an agent dislikes you the worse his offer gets, even if the player in question is 'Very Interested' in signing for you. On the other hand, if an agent 'Likes' you he will straightaway present you with a very reasonable offer, which is usually close to what your scout report on the player suggests.

However, that is not to say that the player has no control over his agents whimsical demands. If an agent begins disliking you after failing to agree terms despite repeated negotiations, and the wage you're offering is enough to satisfy the interested player's expectations (check in the scout report), then he may often end up firing his agent! Then you get to negotiate directly with the player...

Hey Guys,

I'm coming into FM 2011 a little late here, and while I consider myself a bit of a CM/FM veteran, I'm still a completely clueless newbie to the REAL workings of footballer wheeling/dealing.

All throughout the game I rely heavily on my Assistant Manager's advice while starting up and really miss not getting any sort of feedback on these agent offers.

Like, sure, I know that my scouts and assistant manager's advise me to sign a hot prospect but then, once in the negotiations, I have nobody there to offer me some feedback as to whether they think this is a reasonable valuation or if the agent is wasting my time with over hyped malarky.

Hey Guys,

I'm coming into FM 2011 a little late here, and while I consider myself a bit of a CM/FM veteran, I'm still a completely clueless newbie to the REAL workings of footballer wheeling/dealing.

All throughout the game I rely heavily on my Assistant Manager's advice while starting up and really miss not getting any sort of feedback on these agent offers.

Like, sure, I know that my scouts and assistant manager's advise me to sign a hot prospect but then, once in the negotiations, I have nobody there to offer me some feedback as to whether they think this is a reasonable valuation or if the agent is wasting my time with over hyped malarky.

even when i know how good a player is i still scout them as i get feedback as to how much they would want a week. when it comes to the offer they normally want more at the start of negotiations so i slap it down to their lowest acceptable wage. sometimes they accept it and sometimes i meet them in the middle

Adjust your wage budget to the minimum possible before entering negotiations. That way the agent gets the (false) impression that you don't have much funds so his demands will be lower. In the negotiations screen you can then adjust the wage budget. This seems to work sometimes.

How can I find out their minimally acceptable amount without ****ing the agent and player off?

How can I find out their minimally acceptable amount without ****ing the agent and player off?

scout them. on the report it will say the player would want between £x and £y a week. i dont seem to get many issues by negotiating if i then stick to them boundaries

What I find really annoying is that you have an agent pricing his client out of a contract, then when you flog them they are on a contract worth the same as they were on with you.

In reality, if a player is happy at a club and an agent asks for ridiculous demands based on age, ability, squad role and the player then has to move to get the same money with no better career prospects, i think the player would be sacking the agent fairly quick

SORT IT OUT SI!!!