Wants to join a Bigger Club

tl;dr Tempted by bigger clubs that aren't really bigger.

I'm not sure whether this is a plea for help or a whine at FM, so read into it what you will.

As my recent opponent commented after a friendly, I am doing a very good job with modest resources, and am, to all intents and purposes, vastly overachieving. But lets start at the beginning.

7 seasons ago, I won promotion to the Premier League. I started slowly, finishing 16th, 15th, 10th, then jumping up to 6th and UEFA Cup qualification. Then, I had a nightmare of a season with injuries, made no impact in Europe, and only finished 12th. The following season, with my big stars back to fitness (and numerous other teams underperforming) I managed to sneak home in 4th, and with it comes Champions League qualification.

Obviously, my club reputation is still distinctly average. My players have relatively low values for a side in the Champions League, and this is naturally attracting attention from bigger teams. When Real Madrid or Barcelona are interested, I can't really complain. When Arsenal or Man City, the top two teams, show an interest, I can hardly complain when my lads are tempted.

But when Liverpool show an interest, a side without CL qualification in two years, and showing a progressive downhill slope can unsettle my players, and Chelsea, who have been between 6th and 10th for 6 years tempt them, I'm annoyed.

I understand they have history, but surely, surely, they would rather stay at a club where they can play Champions League football? I know our reputation won't shoot up immediately, but this is ridiculous. "Hurr, I want to join a bigger club who finished 6 places below us and aren't in any European competition". I want them to stay!

They're starting to reject my promises of "I believe this club can continue to grow" as well now. Maybe one day, we'll grow into a big club as little as Liverpool.

You've got to remember that the whole "bigger club" thing is not just based on recent form. Same with players, Torres has been having (and continued really) a shocker but Chelsea would still pay £50m for him. I think it takes longer than a few seasons for a clubs reputation to demish, and in the same way it will take longer for your teams reputation to improve. I seem to remember in previous FM games, Man Utd will nearly always end up pretty mid table and worse as time goes on. But it takes ages for them to actually start showing signs of a true mid table club, eg. lower attendances, not attracting players etc....

all clubs have a reputation number at the start of the game, it takes time for this to change up/down, wo while you re improving you have onlu had 1 top 4 finish, Liverpool & chelsea while not in the top 4 now have been the top clubs and would still have a high rep in the game.

its frustrating that your doin well and clubs below you in the league can unsettle your players but it happens everywhere IRL.

I know their reputation will be higher, but surely my players would rather spend a season playing CL football, then push for a move to another club, rather than going to them now?

It's the same reason Man City struggled to sign the top, top players when they missed out on the CL.

i wouldnt say they have struggled David Silva, Tevez, Baliotelli and Dzeko are all top top players.

They're players who are either unproven in one of the top divisions (Dzeko), are money-men (Tevez, Balotelli), or have been told they need to go to the highest bidder because the club is broke (Silva).

They are still top top players no matter what the situation, you wouldnt say Ibra is a poor player because Barca told him he had to leave, no choice in the matter. Plus German football is of a very very high standard, better quality of football than in England, it just has less money flying around in it. Tevez may be in it for money but he is still one of the worlds very best strikers.

It's always been this way, but if you do well a couple of seasons in a row, you'll stop suffering this problem. It simply takes a while to increase your reputation while other clubs take a while to lose theirs.

I would agree that players have always seemed to completely disregard European qualification when it comes to signing, whereas it always gets mentioned in real life as making a club more attractive. Would be nice if this was taken into account in the future.

I guess it depends on the player and their reputation and personality too. Maybe those "smaller" clubs than you can also pay them more? Although its said alot, this whole "champions league football" excuse seems to be used more for when a player leaves a club than when a player arrives at another club. I think it's a bit of a scapegoat, the easiest thing to say when moving to a rival/other club/for any reason would be "champions league football" as its sometimes the only excuse with no real retort from the fans or club. A bit like pulling a sickie for "personal/family reasons", no one would really question it but secretly might be sceptical

I think they should put European football into more importance when making player and especially MANAGER transfer decisions. So often I see a manager leave a team that has just reached Europe for a "bigger" club that has failed to reach Europe and sacked its manager (ie Redknapp from Tottenham in 3rd to Man City in 6th).