Release clauses for low rep EPL sides

I am Crewe and after getting to the EPL in four seasons I went on to finish a very respectable 8th, then 6th and last season 3rd. I signed Ramsey who was unhappy at Arsenal in my first season for £4 million not sure why he was so cheap. After getting into the Champions League it was time to renew his contract his wage demands are decent enough but no matter what I offer his agent will not accept a contract unless there is a £3.9 million release clause. I wouldn't mind if it was £20 million but there is no way any team would accept such a low release clause having just got into the Champions League. I also signed a talented newgen midfielder for £12.5 million in my second season and his contract is also up for renewal and he wants a £10 million release clause which is also ridiculous in my opinion.

I was wondering if anyone else has come across low release clause demands for a low reputation team? I now have to decide if I should sell my best CM Ramsey for £16.5 million which is what I got offered in pre-season when I saved before hand and offered him out.

I had exactly the same problem with my Birmingham save, Scott Dann, as in real life, was attracting a lot of attention after some brilliant performances for 2 straight seasons. Found out far too late that he had a release clause of just 3 million! I was devastated when I tried frantically to change his contract but he insisted on this ridiculous release clause and was subsequently left to leave to West Ham, who had only just got repromoted?! What about playing for Birmingham whom I had guided to 2 successive stable mid table finishes?!

I have managed to get a higher release clause, by upping the base salary and the sign on bonus. What is his current value? I believe that is taken into consideration when they demand a certain sum as release clause.

It is far easier to have him accept a contract without a release clause at all than moving it upwards only a few millions. Just offer him a better basic wage and max out the sign-on bonus of his agent, then remove the release clause.

Cut his basic wage in half, take away the release clause, then hit suggest. He will now reduce his basic wage a lot in most cases. Now increase match bonuses a little, take away the release clause again, give him a slightly better wage than he is expecting and max out the agent's fee. I have very rarely had these offers rejected.

Edit: all in all, when a player demands his base value as a release clause, he doesn't want to play for you!

I offered Ramsey the same wages as last time but I put up his agent fee from £1 million to £2.5 million and he agreed to an £80 million release clause. His basic wage only went up 15k from what it was last time. I still find it annoying though.

Hopefully this (and the many other agent-related issues) will be looked at for the next version.