Unrealistic valuations

There is something deeply wrong with the valuation system. There are probably hundreds of examples of this but one I've just noticed is the valuation of Curtis Davies.

Aston Villa are 2nd in the Premiership in the first season. He has 29 league appearances, 6 goals, 2 assists and 2 MOM's. His average rating is 7.42. He is 26 years old. He is value at £1m. How on Earth can that be possible??

How long does his contract have to go? If it is only a year or so, then yes, his value will drop to around £1m - in which case - the valuation is totally correct.

His contract might be up at the end of the season?

I consider valuating a player a very difficult task. How do you evaluate a player in money? By his contract, form, age, reputation? Valuing Davies in £1m seems very low for me even if he's reaching the end of his contract. In thic case he plays in the EPL, but in other leagues, like the Portuguese, the best players can never pass €6m. Now this is hard for me to understand, and I know this has to deal with the league's reputation, but this shouldn't affect so much a player's value.

I consider valuating a player a very difficult task. How do you evaluate a player in money? By his contract, form, age, reputation? Valuing Davies in £1m seems very low for me even if he's reaching the end of his contract. In thic case he plays in the EPL, but in other leagues, like the Portuguese, the best players can never pass €6m. Now this is hard for me to understand, and I know this has to deal with the league's reputation, but this shouldn't affect so much a player's value.

Values and asking prices can be very different things. In FM I think the 'value' is related to the length and value of his contract that is outstanding and the PA of the player. The asking price seems to be related to value of the contract and the CA of the player. That explains how you can get so many young future stars for next to nothing.

His contract was up at the end of the season. I've got egg on my face now

He's now valued at £5m after signing a four year deal.

No, you don't have egg on your face. It's looks like there is a player value problem with the game, just not a "game breaking" one so it's not that obvious. Your example may have been faulty, but that doesn't mean there still isn't an issue. I have a number of players performing very, very well in the Premiership, yet their values don't change. It's weird.

For example, I'm in my first season with a boosted Newcastle. I signed Vincent Enyeama for £250k at the start of the season. He's played 35 games and started nearly every game, conceding only 46 in a very attacking side, has saved a good number of penalties (and has even scored one league goal from the penalty spot), is on an average rating of 6.88, and has very decent stats. Screenshot:

I'm now 3rd placed in the Premiership and it's March. Most likely I'll qualify for the Champions League as there's a decent gap between me and 5th. Look at it this way: good stats keeper, good age, long contract, signed for £250k from a small provincial club, regular international for Nigeria, proves himself in the Premiersh and is playing well in a side challenging for the Champions League spot, yet he's still worth the tiny fee I paid for him at the start of the season nearly 8 months ago? Any explanations for this?

Any explanations for this?

Low reputation?

His really, really poor goalkeeping stats? 12's for handling, aerial ability and command of area? He's average.

Low reputation?

His really, really poor goalkeeping stats? 12's for handling, aerial ability and command of area? He's average.

Surely worth at least 3-4mil though...

Low reputation?

His really, really poor goalkeeping stats? 12's for handling, aerial ability and command of area? He's average.

He has a few average keeper stats, but very strong suplementary keeper stats. And he's playing well regularly for me at one of the highest levels in domestic club football. And he's an international for a good African side. He has to be worth much, much more than £250k.

Compare him to my waste of space, awful stats, awful PA, zero experience, no reputation rookie keeper who won't get anywhere close to a high level in his entire career. Yet he's worth more than Enyeama:

Again, there IS something wrong with valuations in the game. Just compare those two players, their experiences, the level that they're playing at and established at, etc etc. Like I said, it's nothing to cry about, but there's definitely something not right here.

Any explanations for this?

The valuations generally remain the same for at least one season and it remains at the value you signed the player, something like a price protection but unsure of the actual protection period. I think this system is implemented to prevent players from profiting a huge profit from flipping players over a short period of time. Over time, you will see the adjustment to the real value according to the player's reputation.

The valuations generally remain the same for at least one season and it remains at the value you signed the player, something like a price protection but unsure of the actual protection period. I think this system is implemented to prevent players from profiting a huge profit from flipping players over a short period of time. Over time, you will see the adjustment to the real value according to the player's reputation.

Hmm I always thought that players would be generally unwilling to move to another club in such a short amount of time, so such a price protection mechanism is not needed in practice.

Also, real life does have examples of clubs taking a big loss to sell off a new signing 6 months after he signs (e.g. Robbie Keane), so not sure artificially keeping the valuation high is that realistic.

Pienar to Chelseas for £3m

The mind boggles.

Pienar to Chelseas for £3m

The mind boggles.

Heh. If it was FM:

1) Pienar refuse to sign new contract due to "Want to move to bigger club"

2) No bids come in

3) Player grow frustrated and offer Pienar out at valuation (1mil. Hehe someone playing Everton should check whether this number is true in Jan 2011)

4) Chelsea and Spurs each submit a non-negotiable bid of exactly 1mil

5) Pienar chooses Spurs due to better squad status (Rotation instead of Backup).

Hard to imagine a scenario where the likes of Pienar would be sold for 3mil in FM...

Hmm I always thought that players would be generally unwilling to move to another club in such a short amount of time, so such a price protection mechanism is not needed in practice.

Also, real life does have examples of clubs taking a big loss to sell off a new signing 6 months after he signs (e.g. Robbie Keane), so not sure artificially keeping the valuation high is that realistic.

Yes, it is true that players are not willing to transfer clubs in a short period of time unless they are affected by adaptability issues (Jelle Van Damme). Furthermore, the two clubs in a year FIFA rule serves to deter interest from other clubs. It can then be argued that this enforced price protection mechanism ought not to have such lasting effect if it lasts more than one season.

The Robbie Keane case is more of a one-off case whereby a huge money signing has failed to fit in to the team style and the manager losing faith in his own signing. Robbie Keane's actual reputation then probably did not fall drastically and his value should stay close to his buying price at 19 million. But Liverpool was desperate to sell and they have to do it at a great loss to Keane's former employers. Not many clubs could afford that kind of money for a high wage player.

Blackburn wanted 33m + Manuel da Costa for a still 20 year old David Hoilett, who was very rough around the edges! A week later they accepted a bid of 7m + da Costa

Blackburn wanted 33m + Manuel da Costa for a still 20 year old David Hoilett, who was very rough around the edges! A week later they accepted a bid of 7m + da Costa

I'm sure they knew that they would never get 33m, that's just strategic negotiating

I remember a time when valuation of a player was capped at his minimum release fee.

Is this still the case with FM2011 and might this be the reason for the valuations?

The valuations generally remain the same for at least one season and it remains at the value you signed the player, something like a price protection but unsure of the actual protection period. I think this system is implemented to prevent players from profiting a huge profit from flipping players over a short period of time. Over time, you will see the adjustment to the real value according to the player's reputation.

Can confirm this is the case. As soon as the new season began, Enyeama's valuation shot up to £2.3m.