Signing youth players - exploit perhaps?

Just wondering what others make of this.

I am a Serie C1 side. I went to approach a youth player and his contract demands were too high for me.

I offered him a Trial instead. And he accepted. I was then able to sign them on a youth contract, and they accepted it straight away and on a lot less cash.

Would you consider this to be an exploit?

Hard to say based on a single instance, if your able to repeat the situation & from it sign players who would otherwise not consider signing or be too expensive then I'd say it is a bug open to exploitation.

Oh I've done it several times. I was surprised by it. I'll be doing it again when the transfer window opens again. I'll post screen shots to show the steps.

Just find it weird.

You have absolutely zero willpower do you? 48 mth payment exploit & now a youth contract exploit, have you no shame man?

Definitely worth posting in the bugs forum, unless of course you'd rather the loophole wasn't closed?

Nope. The box says nothing about requirements for willpower lol.

I shall post it in the bugs forum then.

If the game lets you do it, I don't see how it's a bug/exploit. The bug is arguably that you couldn't give him a youth contract beforehand.

I offered him a Trial instead. And he accepted. I was then able to sign them on a youth contract, and they accepted it straight away and on a lot less cash.

Would you consider this to be an exploit?

As the problem is stated, I think it's neither a bug nor an exploit. It doesn't seem unreasonable to me that bringing in a player on a trial might induce him to drop his contract demands (to some extent, at least). If he likes the club, likes the staff and so on, he might be persuaded to soften up for a better deal. That's how American corporations recruit excellent prospects: with all sorts of intangible benefits that they showcase on a visit to corporate headquarters.

It might be how it works in corporate America but for me it is not how it works in the world of European soccer.

There will be instances of a player being impressed with a club once they arrive but I doubt that FM has been programmed to reflect this & I have the feeling that as soon as the player arrives (in game) he will immediately accept youth terms which isn't correct, if they wanted professional terms before arrive why would they now be happy with a low paid youth contract after you've expressed an interested in signing them?

Barside, you may well be right about the youth contract in this specific case but I'd argue that there are plenty of instances in the world of European soccer in which a player visits a club, is impressed by any number of different factors and reduces his contract demands because he is more eager to join them. This just seems like simple human nature at work and a natural part of the process of negotiation. It also seems likely to me that FM is programmed to allow this. I've seen a number of instances in my own games in which a player will come into my club on a trial and either raise(!) or lower his demands. It seems rather unlikely that a bug would send a player's negotiating position in either direction. But, ultimately, I think we need a statement from SI to clear this up.

If the game lets you do it, I don't see how it's a bug/exploit. The bug is arguably that you couldn't give him a youth contract beforehand.

You might want to look up the definition of 'exploit'. 'Bug' and 'exploit' are two different things.

i would say that it makes sense.

as a player, joining an unknown club, you might be a bit unsure and demands would be adjusted accordingly, but having spent a bit of time at the club, checked out the facilities and began to make friendships with the other players, a player would be more interested in joining and may consider dropping their demands to ensure a deal goes through

What we're talking about is a player deciding that he no longer wants a senior contract & is willing to accept a youth contract which will of course mean a reduced weekly income, does anyone think that is seriously how things are supposed to work?

The OP didn't specify an age but if the player is, say, 17, it doesn't seem unrealistic that his opening position was for a professional contract but that he would settle for a youth contract if he liked the club. In negotiations, we often start by asking for more than we think we can get. Nowhere has anyone established that the guy deserved a professional contract, it's simply what he asked for at the start. Playing lower league, I often get opening demands for double or even triple the amount the player eventually settles for. You could apply the same logic to that: why would he settle for five grand a year when he asked for twelve?