Will the new transfer system employ realism?

I ask, because a problem I've had with the way it's implemented now for a long time. It seems that unless a player is transfer listed or kicks up a real stink, it takes far, far too much money to get a club to sell him.

Don't misunderstand me - clubs with real stars and lots of money won't be selling their top players, but that's maybe three or four clubs per country, if that. Most clubs have to sell players eventually for financial reasons.

In FM, unless a club actually wants to sell the player and has him listed, they demand sums of money that boggle the mind. And AI clubs are all too willing to pay those fees! Examples from my current game include Portsmouth paying a ridiculous £30M for Charles N'Zogbia, and Tottenham paying £27.5M for Obafemi Martins. It's not like these players had just had some incredible run of form and been playing out of their skins - both had been in and out of their club sides, neither had an average above 7. I tried to sign Christopher Samba from a Hamburg side whose finances were listed as "secure" rather than "rich". And they demanded £25M! There is no way he's worth that much! In real life, I feel that clubs can only really stick a few million more on top of the players worth, especially since if the player is interested in the move the club can't really stop him from having talks.

The fact of the matter is that a lot of clubs rely on making two or three transfers a season - outbound ones that is - to stay afloat. Players get sold. It's a fact of football. A club makes an enquiry to the players agent to guage interest and deals get done. Clubs talk to each other and sound each other out. And players get bought and sold, and hardly ever for silly money.

Also, the idea of having a pool of money that you are told is the transfer kitty is kind of silly. Being given a ballpark figure is one thing, but a better way of working would be to have the manager and chairman get a player transfer lined up with a club in principal, before the chairman undertakes negotiations with the opposing clubs chairman. Manager's aren't the ones with control of the purse strings. Do you think Man City told Mark Hughes he had exactly £35 to spend on players before he bought Robinho?

Maybe you could take a "shopping list" to the Chairman, which is far more realistic, and he then looks at the players involved and discusses what the club would be willing to pay for those players. It would also mean you don't end up signing players who the board are going to criticise you for for the next year.

A shopping list to the chairman would be a good feature . Would also be good if you could justify your signings e.g. You signed such and such for backup , you signed player X for the futute.

This is one thing I totally agree with.

As Arsenal, I tried to sign a £9m rated Agbonlahor, and I couldnt get him for less than £30m. That's just one example - others are Man City wanting £35m for Richards, £20m for Sturridge, Villa wanting £25m for Young. It gets worse with regens.

It seems offering add-ons etc has no effect.

A shopping list or something of that kind could possibly be a great idea. Also, a bit more interaction or a few more options when discusssing contracts with transfer targets. You know sometimes when you get a scout reoport and its says "would have no intention of joining". That kills any chance you have of signing him. Of course in real life some players will not want to join certain clubs but managers can have a meeting, explain their plans for the futute, how they see the player developing, persuade the player to join and of course offer great financial incentives. It is possible for Real Madrid to sign John Terry, for example. If you could promise certain success or promise the captaincy etc when discussing contracts, it would give you more of a chance and give more feedback as to the reasons why the player isn't sure whether to join.

Last year SI added the budget ajustment because they realised clubs didn't have a figure which was "the transfer budget", they had a figure which could be spent over the course of the season (on wages and transfers)

Hmmm, i think Players Like Terry and Gerrard are rather immovable from there clubs or should be unless the clubs take a big dive.

Hmmm, i think Players Like Terry and Gerrard are rather immovable from there clubs or should be unless the clubs take a big dive.

Right, Its highly unlikely. However nothing is impossible. Look at Robinho's move to City. Would he have joined in FM? Maybe they are not the best examples for various reasons but the fact is at the moment all you can do is offer money. A bit more feedback when negotiating with the player would be great. Promising success, the captaincy, stating that you want to create a team around this player.

A shopping list to the chairman would be a good feature . Would also be good if you could justify your signings e.g. You signed such and such for backup , you signed player X for the futute.

I really love that idea. Would also be interesting to fit that in with the whole director of football dynamic, especially in Europe.

I ask, because a problem I've had with the way it's implemented now for a long time. It seems that unless a player is transfer listed or kicks up a real stink, it takes far, far too much money to get a club to sell him.

Don't misunderstand me - clubs with real stars and lots of money won't be selling their top players, but that's maybe three or four clubs per country, if that. Most clubs have to sell players eventually for financial reasons.

In FM, unless a club actually wants to sell the player and has him listed, they demand sums of money that boggle the mind. And AI clubs are all too willing to pay those fees! Examples from my current game include Portsmouth paying a ridiculous £30M for Charles N'Zogbia, and Tottenham paying £27.5M for Obafemi Martins. It's not like these players had just had some incredible run of form and been playing out of their skins - both had been in and out of their club sides, neither had an average above 7. I tried to sign Christopher Samba from a Hamburg side whose finances were listed as "secure" rather than "rich". And they demanded £25M! There is no way he's worth that much! In real life, I feel that clubs can only really stick a few million more on top of the players worth, especially since if the player is interested in the move the club can't really stop him from having talks.

The fact of the matter is that a lot of clubs rely on making two or three transfers a season - outbound ones that is - to stay afloat. Players get sold. It's a fact of football. A club makes an enquiry to the players agent to guage interest and deals get done. Clubs talk to each other and sound each other out. And players get bought and sold, and hardly ever for silly money.

Also, the idea of having a pool of money that you are told is the transfer kitty is kind of silly. Being given a ballpark figure is one thing, but a better way of working would be to have the manager and chairman get a player transfer lined up with a club in principal, before the chairman undertakes negotiations with the opposing clubs chairman. Manager's aren't the ones with control of the purse strings. Do you think Man City told Mark Hughes he had exactly £35 to spend on players before he bought Robinho?

Maybe you could take a "shopping list" to the Chairman, which is far more realistic, and he then looks at the players involved and discusses what the club would be willing to pay for those players. It would also mean you don't end up signing players who the board are going to criticise you for for the next year.

great point mate. the transfer system is in dire need of a complete overhaul in my oppinion. lets hope FM09 addresses these issues and more besides.

great point mate. the transfer system is in dire need of a complete overhaul in my oppinion. lets hope FM09 addresses these issues and more besides.

Miles has said loads of times that the transfer system's code has been ripped out and redone from scratch. It has been looked at for FM09, lets wait and see.

Yeah, I think FM09 is going to have a lot of new features from the looks of things. It's nice to have an iteration of the series that takes a leap forward rather than the last two which, for me, were very simple updates. Enjoyable, but let's be honest - FM2008 was not as good as we all hoped it would be.

If they really have overhauled the transfer system, it would be nice to add some more depth to it. I like what 'someguy' said above - and since it's already possible to promise things to a player when they come to you with a problem, like promising them a run in the side, a new contract etc, it's certainly something SI are capable of implementing. It's the same system, but you're promising them right then and there in the negotiations.

The most unrealistic transfer I saw was Adrian Mutu from Fiorentina to Chelsea for £23.5million I doubt very much that that would happen! It seems that most transfers in the game are over-inflated but then again I never saw Robbie Keane move clubs for anything close to £20million!

I also think that money should talk more with extremes.

For instance, give Barnet 1billion with an .edt. Now sure Henry won't go down to league 2, but a top championship player, if offered 5 times his wages, should. Anyone being offered 10-20 times what they would elsewhere should pretty much always bite.

There's a point where reputations no longer matter and money isn't ignorable.

The "talk to" would also be nice in this situation. You could explain to the upcoming stars you try to nick that while it will mean spending their teenage years climbing the leagues, they'll be paid 100k a week for the honour, will team up with other huge future stars you are looking at, and that the team has the bankroll to become a major player in world football.

Given a billion to spend on transfers, you can guarantee Barnet would get better players in reality than in FM.

Prices should be severely toned down for sure.

I am also concerned about how active clubs from non active leagues will be.

I do agree with wages , giving a man 2 or 3 times better wage shall be enough for him to move in Albania , specially if he is rotting in a Serie A bench .

I'm cautiously optimistic about the newly written transfer system on FM09.

All I'd really like to see is a damn site more transfer activity, like AI teams going out and actively signing players. Not just 1 big signing a year, but 1st-team back up, hot prospects, rotation players and all that.

At the minute it's all a bit quiet in the FM transfer windows.

I also think that money should talk more with extremes.

For instance, give Barnet 1billion with an .edt. Now sure Henry won't go down to league 2, but a top championship player, if offered 5 times his wages, should. Anyone being offered 10-20 times what they would elsewhere should pretty much always bite.

There's a point where reputations no longer matter and money isn't ignorable.

The "talk to" would also be nice in this situation. You could explain to the upcoming stars you try to nick that while it will mean spending their teenage years climbing the leagues, they'll be paid 100k a week for the honour, will team up with other huge future stars you are looking at, and that the team has the bankroll to become a major player in world football.

Given a billion to spend on transfers, you can guarantee Barnet would get better players in reality than in FM.

great point. i totally agree. even with no money the "talk to" option would be useful. trying to convince a thirtysomething that playing every week for a league one/two side is far better than festering in the reserves a division above is impossible in FM08. we all know that come the end of the season nobody will want them due to the games alarming decline of over-thirty players!

Definately needs an overhaul...

I hate it how it costs so much to buy anyone in the game and alot of players are close to impossible to buy...

I think how the AI uses transfers is also very unreal. Like sure top teams would only make maybe 1 or 2 major signings another 1 or 2 minor ones while only losing maybe 3 to 4 players. However lower teams easily lose 6 or 7 first team players after ever season... Like the dude explained before definately needs a kick up the something (obvoiusly it was very fun till now but listening to all the suggestions it seems it needs a reality check...)

as i said in another post,i think (and hope) that the new transfer system will steal power from the human player and gave it to the AI..

i would like to see the transfer market going on by "targets" and not by "how money i'm allowed to spend?".for example:

i start a new game with ac milan..the board gives me,let's say,25million to spend..and i think that this isn't a realistic approach..would be better if they say "we have 25millions to spend..what do we deserve?"

now,looking at my team and after a chat with my assman,i should say "ok,we don't need forwards and mildfielders (i think that pato, kaka, borriello, shevchenko, inzaghi, seedorf, ronaldinho, pirlo, flamini, emerson, gattuso and ambrosini are enough.. ),but we desperate need a great central defender and,let's say,some young people to backup zambrotta and jankulovski on the wings.."

then,after some days,the board should return to me saying "look,for 25 millions we have this options: we can buy only one great defender (let's say,for example,cannavaro),or three guys or five,what do you think?" or something like "we have to choose between micah richards for 20,rafa marquez for 15 and ricardo carvalho for 17.5,what do you think?" and then i should choose what i prefer to do.

obviously,as i'm new to the team and my rep is not so good,probably the board will decide for itself not listening to my advices.but then,this should be pointed out for my season target. something like "we bought what you wanted,now you have to win"..or,on the opposite,it should be possibile that the board would buy players that you didn't need (example,ronaldinho and shevchenko) and then i should be able to say "i promised you we would win the uefa cup,but you didn't satisfied my requests so it's not my fault".

all this should affect my rep and the consideration of the fans and the board itself,and i think that every chairman's personality should affect the way the market goes..

so,to make it clear,instead of making bids for specific players,i would like to see a box in which i make requests to the board (as for the staff search)..in the beginning of the season i will say something like:

i need

1 goalkeeper between 18-23 years old

1 DL between 18-23 years old

1 DR between 18-23 years old

1 DC between 18-23 years old

1 superstar DC

then the board and my observers would roam all over the world to look for players and talk with other teams,and then the offers would pop up as for staff offers, like:

we have found 2 players for the goalkeeper role:

hugo lloris 15millions

oscar ustari 8 millions

and then i have to choose..

talking about selling people..well,i think it should be easier..and i think it would be good if we will have the possibility to say to the board in the opening day of the season:

players i don't need

nelson dida

kakhaber kaladze

emerson

filippo inzaghi

and then the board could go on and sell them at the price they want..

sorry for my bad english,hope everything is clear..

sorry for my bad english,hope everything is clear..

No need to apologise, your English is better than a lot of English people on here.

Taking the financial aspect of transfers out of the manager's hands would certainly add realism and remove all the moans about player prices (although those who like to moan about anything will still do so if one player moves clubs for an inflated transfer fee under even that system), but it is an aspect of the game that a lot of people enjoy (if it is implemented properly!).

Giving a list of players you don't want to the chairman would certainly be good because I doubt there are many people who enjoy the process of trying to offload those players for as much as they can get.

Absolute transfer fees are an irrelevance though - relative transfer fees are what matter - in terms of how much you can sell players for, how much you can buy for in the same market and how much money clubs have.

In a game that can last for > 100 years absolute transfer fees based on today's market are largely pointless - who knows whether transfer fees will go up hugely or down hugely in 10 years time?

Some very good ideas and suggestions here, lets hope they are applied already to FM09.

Noone will ever be able to make a tolerable transfer system, its far too complex a system. Hopefully they'll just remove the idiocy somewhat, i.e: you bid for a player, the other team negotiates, then the player has a good game and your (which was acceptable 1 day before) bid is rejected and they want 1million more. ABSURD. Also clubs demanding upwards of 10 times the stated value of the player even though that player isn't even going to play 1 first team game. Sure I dont' expect clubs to let Kaka go for 30million, but I expect someone like Lyon/PSV to get bids of at MOST 20 million for players and bite their hands off (its regular in my games for Lyon to sell players for 30-40 mil and buy similarily priced replacements).

I've had a hard time expressing myself here but I think you'll get my point.

I largely agree with people here, especially when it comes to off-loading/selling players. Most of the time in FM07/08 this is absolutely impossible

Say I buy 3 players for about £1m each as a random German/Spanich/French/Italian clubs with all EU countries loaded on huge database. And all three turns out to be rotten and I stick them in my reserves for last half of the season with an asking price of £500k each?

Are they going to be sold that way? Absolutely not, it would never happen in FM08... And it's sad because it does happen in real life.

A few examples:

Riordan signed for Celtic in a £170,000 deal in June 2006. (fast-forward...) Riordan returned to Hibernian on the final day of the 2008 summer transfer window.

Stephen Appiah signed for Parma in the summer of 2000. (fast-forward after being on loan to Brescia...) Juventus paid Parma €2m, in the 2003 summer, to secure Appiah's services on loan, with an option of a permanent €6m transfer in 2004

To end my rant, I just wish that FM09 could handle player sales better as well, everyone is focusing on buying but selling is sometimes even more important.

The only players you can realistically sell easily for good value in FM08 was very young, up and coming with huge PA.