Approach to sign

For some months i have been watching a player whos' contract expires in 6 months time. Come Jan i decided to make a cheeky little bid as the Approach to sign tab was not available until later in the year. But to my suprise a few days later he had agreed to sign for another club at the end of the season. Why are the IA teams able to agree a contract when i don't have the option.

What nation are you managing in? In some nations, including England, you can't sign players on pre-contracts from the same nation until a month or so before the expiration of that players contract. Other clubs from other nations can open talks in January. You should be able to do it with other players from other nations as well.

As NF said. If you are in England then you cant open talks abotu a pre-contract with a player who is in the same country but clubs from other nations can. English clubs cant open talks until they enter the final month of their contract.

Im not sure about every nation, but in Germany, a club can open talks with a player from another German club even if they have six months remaining on their contract.

That's a handy piece of information. I had no idea it worked like that

Thanks for the info. i had no idea that was the rule

Hasn't England changed to 6 months now in FM12. I seem to remember having the opportunity to sign Vidic(amongst others, but they are regens) in January of the year his contract ended. I'm playing as Peterborough.

No, it shouldn't have. If it has, it is a bug. If an English player is playing abroad, then you can approach to sign them with 6 months to go. However, English to English clubs can't approach a player whose contract is expiring until there is a month to go.