End of Contract - No interest.

I am in 2027/28 season and in October 2026 my star forward for Stoke City tells the media he will leave at the end of his contract as he wants bigger and better things. Fair enough, he was 26 years old, playing for a club just in the play-offs of The Championship.

His history with Stoke was that he was signed 7 and a half years earlier (Jan 2020) for £2.1m and went on to play 264 game in Premier League/Championship scoring 130 league goals. His total career is 380 league apps with 179 lge goals. A quality player that i have no issue with him wanting to try elsewhere.

He has spent nearer all his career with me as he was a regen at my former club spending 4 and half years there and i completed two seasons with him at Stoke. In my two seasons at Stoke he scored 55 in 83 games.

Come July he walks out and its now Feb 2028 and not one single club has come in for him and he wont rejoin us, depsite us being in the Premeir League now.

WHY WHY WHY AND WHAT A WASTE OF A PLAYER :confused:

Why?

Because FM's handling of contracts renewals, Bosman players and Free Agents has been godawful for years... we have reported it over and over again mostly to no avail...

For starters a striker scoring an average of 0.50 gpg would have probably attracted the interest of many EPL clubs, from mid-table up to CL-spot contenders, so he could/should have left your club earlier anyway, for a decent sum too.

But even conceding he didn't want to leave earlier, once it was clear he wouldn't have signed a new contract for your club, the aforementioned clubs should have been knocking at his door... a 15 goals per season striker for free is hardly worth ignoring after all.

So the scenario you have now is vastly implausible for two reasons, but it's par for the course on FM...

Blame it on the horrid PA+Reputation system... The guy has probably peaked already and his CA/PA isn't high enough to attract major interest from Top Clubs, his reputation is too high to make him choose a mid-table club [so he'll refuse offers and mid-table clubs won't make an offer because they "know" he's out of reach] so he's now stuck in a rut... When/if his reputation will be low enough to allow smaller clubs to negotiate, he'll find a new club, basically having wasted valuable months of career.

The system is deeply flawed, or I'd rather say vastly outdated.

Performance should be the key factor in deciding who's interested in whom... It's absurd having a consistent striker constantly ignored because his PA isn't Top Four material while a mediocre prospect is attracting Top Clubs despite his performances being supbar and his skills requiring a miracle to turn him into a viable Top Player.

Spot on RBKalle. Nuff said!

What's worse is I have two players who keep knocking on my door...

Player - "Boss. I'm not happy. I wan't a new contract. If you don't give me one I'm going to kick up ****"

Me "Ok. You deserve one. I'm happy to offer you a new contract right now"

Player - "Wow, thanks boss, but I'm not interested in any contract offer whatsoever".

Me - "WTF :mad:"

One word - farce

And now he has retired!!!!

JOKE!

27 years old, 380 games, 179 goals and offers every two weeks from Stoke but he would rather retire. Cant help feeling this has tainted my 17 year long save...

Yup that's exactly right RBKalle... the question is why SI still haven't change it despite it's been a problem for many years

And now he has retired!!!!

JOKE!

27 years old, 380 games, 179 goals and offers every two weeks from Stoke but he would rather retire. Cant help feeling this has tainted my 17 year long save...

I find that bit really sad

I love to see how some of ex players have done after I have released them, real shame to see they have retired in their mid twenties

Blame it on the horrid PA+Reputation system... The guy has probably peaked already and his CA/PA isn't high enough to attract major interest from Top Clubs, his reputation is too high to make him choose a mid-table club [so he'll refuse offers and mid-table clubs won't make an offer because they "know" he's out of reach] so he's now stuck in a rut... When/if his reputation will be low enough to allow smaller clubs to negotiate, he'll find a new club, basically having wasted valuable months of career.

Sums it up perfectly in my opinion.

I felt guilty earleir in my save as a winger i had for 5 years i let go when i won promotion to League 2. He has done a decent job for me but money was so tight i had to let him go. Looked him up a year later and he had retired at 26 years old.

Really felt for the guy!

Why?

Because FM's handling of contracts renewals, Bosman players and Free Agents has been godawful for years... we have reported it over and over again mostly to no avail...

For starters a striker scoring an average of 0.50 gpg would have probably attracted the interest of many EPL clubs, from mid-table up to CL-spot contenders, so he could/should have left your club earlier anyway, for a decent sum too.

But even conceding he didn't want to leave earlier, once it was clear he wouldn't have signed a new contract for your club, the aforementioned clubs should have been knocking at his door... a 15 goals per season striker for free is hardly worth ignoring after all.

So the scenario you have now is vastly implausible for two reasons, but it's par for the course on FM...

Blame it on the horrid PA+Reputation system... The guy has probably peaked already and his CA/PA isn't high enough to attract major interest from Top Clubs, his reputation is too high to make him choose a mid-table club [so he'll refuse offers and mid-table clubs won't make an offer because they "know" he's out of reach] so he's now stuck in a rut... When/if his reputation will be low enough to allow smaller clubs to negotiate, he'll find a new club, basically having wasted valuable months of career.

The system is deeply flawed, or I'd rather say vastly outdated.

Performance should be the key factor in deciding who's interested in whom... It's absurd having a consistent striker constantly ignored because his PA isn't Top Four material while a mediocre prospect is attracting Top Clubs despite his performances being supbar and his skills requiring a miracle to turn him into a viable Top Player.

This post mainly sums all of my concerns regarding the issue.