I can't sign players coming out of contract after Jan 1. Why?

Hello there guys,

I have raised the above query regarding signing soon to be free agents mainly from the country I'm playing in but I've noticed I've tried to sign Americans as well whilst playing in England and can't. Is there a reason why or is that just normal? I have no trouble offering players contracts from most other countries in Europe. It's a little annoying not be able to do so.

Does anyone have answers on why this may be?

Cheers guys!

There are different laws regarding free transfers for brazil, USA, ukraine and russia (there may be more, but my memory fails me) which means you cannot sign them on a free at the end of their contract, they just move onto a month-to-month contract.

Cheers Ched,

I may not have explained myself well enough but you know when it's Dec 31 and all the players that are coming out of contract and when you click on a player you have the "Approach to sign" option. I'm currently playing in England and I can't or don't have that option available to me. It just means that other teams have the chance to sign these guys before I have a chance to, when they finally come out of contract on July 1st.

Thanks mate for the reply.

You can't approach to sign players in England until their contract is two months away from expiry, I seem to think. It might even be a shorter length of time than that.

Cheers Mike,

I'll keep a eye on it from now on then, hopefully that's the case for the the computer teams as well. It just makes it a little harder planning for your next season when you have less time to prepare.

It will be the same for the computer teams as well, so don't worry, my friend. It's a real-life and rule and as such, has been implemented in the game. Only thing I would say is that I'm not too sure of the exact timeframe. Also, these days, most players you'd want to bring in will sign a new deal too soon for 'approach to sign' to appear. That's been my experience, anyway.

If you are based in the UK you can only sign a player from another UK club when he is in the last month of his contract.

Most of the rest of the world is 6 months.

Brazil and some other South American countries have laws on under 19 players iirc, which stops you signing them until then, although you can pre sign them to join.

No idea on the USA.

I think the only way to sign Americans on a free is to wait till the club "waive" them, iirc that is basically putting them up for sale on a free although I'm not 100% sure on that

6 weeks prior to contract expiry is when you can approach to sign English players if based in England.

6 weeks prior to contract expiry is when you can approach to sign English players if based in England.

may 31st for june 30th expiry dates

Cheers Guys,

Thanks guys for the input really appreciate it.

"Newcastle striker Michael Owen is a target for Merseyside rivals Liverpool and Everton. The 28-year-old's contract expires in the summer and is free to talk to clubs in the new year. He would be available for a knockdown £4m in the January transfer window. (News of the World) "

Being free to talk to clubs is the same as being able to 'approach to sign' isn't it, albeit looking at it from the players perspective rather than the approaching club?

"Newcastle striker Michael Owen is a target for Merseyside rivals Liverpool and Everton. The 28-year-old's contract expires in the summer and is free to talk to clubs in the new year. He would be available for a knockdown £4m in the January transfer window. (News of the World) "

Being free to talk to clubs is the same as being able to 'approach to sign' isn't it, albeit looking at it from the players perspective rather than the approaching club?

When they say he would be available, they mean that Newcastle would make him available. And they'd do that because it's better than losing him for nothing in the summer. It doesn't change the fact that you have to wait until six weeks before the end of his contract to go directly to him and discuss a contract.

_PeteG_, the News of the World, not for the first time, have got their facts wrong. It used to be the case, up to 2 years ago, that England-based players could discuss a move with other English clubs up to 6 months before the end of their contract. However this rule was then changed, so that a player can only (IRL) talk to another English club in the last 6 weeks of their contract, or from the last weekend in May (if the player has less than 3 months to run on their contract at that point), whichever is sooner. In the game this is set as a month beforehand, as presumably this is more straightforward to code. Unless they've changed the rules, but I checked them at the start of last season and they were definitely 6 weeks.

"Newcastle striker Michael Owen is a target for Merseyside rivals Liverpool and Everton. The 28-year-old's contract expires in the summer and is free to talk to clubs in the new year. He would be available for a knockdown £4m in the January transfer window. (News of the World) "

Being free to talk to clubs is the same as being able to 'approach to sign' isn't it, albeit looking at it from the players perspective rather than the approaching club?

Yeah, for clubs abroad.

This mentioning of Michael Owen has totally confused the issue. So let's pull it back together. For UK-based players, a club has to wait until six weeks before the end of his contract before they can approach him. And there are no exceptions. The reason people ask the question that the OP asked is because there was a time when you could approach all players anywhere six months before their contract was up.

As for the News of the World's article on Michael Owen, they have not been clear in what is meant. They are not saying that any club can approach Owen directly from January. What they are saying is that, from January, Newcastle will allow him to discuss terms with other clubs so that they can sell him for a fee rather than lose him for nothing in the summer. Of course, none of this means that the News of the World is right and that this really will be happening!