What is your transfer policy

What would you say is your transfer policy on football manager? Are you a chequebook manager spending the board's hard earned millions? a rich but prudent Mr Wenger? A bargain hunter for golden oldies? Just plain normal?

well im a very average player but i normally go with any player that looks good, unless i am managing a top club then i normally invest in youth

invest in youth. definitely. makes the game so much esier in the long run. first couple seasons can be tough, but after that, its a breeze

I usually buy youngsters when they are 16/17 and hope they come good for the first team but if i feel i cant wait or not have a prospect for a certain position i will look to spend a bit of money on a quality player around mid twenties. Generally seems to work but i may buy a few older player for the first few seasons until the youngsters start coming through.

a mixture to be fair!

Always youth players, I like to start in the lower leagues and sign youth players who I think will be capable of seeing the club through a couple of promotions in the future.

well seeing as i started the thread i may as well add my own view - always spend absolute peanuts on kids, i wont spend more than £10m on a player, cos i wont go near the club transfer record!

I'm a bargain hunter and I hunt for youngsters.

I never play on teams that have large budgets, so I always have to be smart with my money. I rarely overspend on anything unless I'm sure that he will make a major impact.

I always try and find that good uncontracted youngster. And it pays off sometimes.

generally I work on the once your 18 your too old to be signed, however will break this if the player is right. Currently my first team has one over 23 player in it. The player is 30, but came through my youth team. I am expecting that I wont renew his contract at the end of the season.

This policy has seen me turn Celtic into the worlds richest club. I also generally sell any player who I am being offered 3x his value for, unless 3x value is less than I paid. I'm also finding that my board are very good at selling my youngsters over my head, however they generally do it for decent fees. eg a player I signed for free as a 17 year old was sold 3 years later for £8.25 million having played 30 odd games and scored 20 odd goals for the club.

I like to keep my squad very settled, players only go if they want to go or they retire, they are then replaced by a youth who I will have been grooming for at least two seasons to take over the position.

I only break this policy if there is an obvious need for quality in a certain position.

I buy young players, 17-23 as I know I can double or triple their value. Players over 24 dont really get much better so Id rather pay £2m for a 20 year old and have him become a £6m player in 3 years than spend £6m on a 24-30 year old.

i love bargins, but i also love my youngsters, even if i have to spend big, there worth it when there with you for so long.

By in all value, but mainly the youth players

they are then replaced by a youth who I will have been grooming for at least two seasons

Creepy!!!!

Interesting topic.

I tend to get a few youngsters to begin with, but I tend to scout for class players who have a reasonable release clause.

At a top club i usually find a youngster for every position and put them in a team together and make them grow together then the season before i try them out i send them all out on loan for a season and when they come back i see who can hack it and who can't. At lower league clubs its the best bargain i can find!

Creepy!!!!

If only his user name was Graeme Rix.

I usually start in a small club, so first port of call is old cheap talent ... then start adding youngsters to replace the oldies in a season or 2 ... once I've climbed the leagues a bit and got some money it's the best player I can afford for the position I need to fill. BUT I always try to keep a squad of youngsters about the place who look like they are going to be "special".

A bit of everything if I have the money. What usually happens is I buy good players in my budget as well as potential youngsters. After a few seasons my money builds up and I can afford a £30m name to hopefully take my team to the next level.

I tend to spend big the first few seasons and then focus on youth. (I voted youth).

As a Lower league manager I buy experienced players to play the best football in the division and get out of it!

i always spend the money i am given, i do look to see who is available on a free but i have a thing when i am given money to spend!!!

I'm into buying promising youngsters.

At least in the 1st few seasons anyway where there are plenty of them.

Mix of everything to keep it realistic...I lost interest quickly if I find myself with a team full of highly rated players in their early 20's and late teens.

Went with Spend, Spend, Spend because I regularly spend £10m-£20m on squad players, but for a top club every man in your first team squad could be vital and the money is there to be spent. Generally after a splurge to get things in shape I prefer to invest in youth. Obviously things change depending on circumstances and I love bargain hunting if the situation requires - at a top club there aren't really bargains to be had.

Ill pay the money if i need a player like for that season, but rarely sell players with out an adequette cover. But i spend 10+ mil to sign like 10 under 17s for my youth team a season.

I tend to bring in players on the cheap dont like spending big usually go for experience even though im an arsenal fan lol

It all depends on what team you are, for example if i play as leicester in League 1 then i would be a lot of golden oldies who have experience, can play and are cheap. If i am liverpool then i will only buy players under 24 unless they are world stars or exceptional.

money burns holes in my pockets so i tend buy a lot of cheap youth and 2-3 established players in the first season, depending on the cash i have. I have i have loads I buy a hugely expensive striker and a goalkeeper and literally 20-30 youngsters who have impressive stats

i have £160m for the new season, and I wont spend a penny - cos i have faith in the current young squad!

i have £160m for the new season, and I wont spend a penny - cos i have faith in the current young squad!

Current young squad fails, llama3 sacked, new manager appointed who spends 160m on 5 29 year old players, 2 of them keepers.

I'll buy whatever i can within my budget to help my team get better, weather thats in the short run or long run.

Generally stick to 25-29 or so for players coming straight in for first team action, whoever i think is best for the job then stay on the lookout for youth

i generally spend my entire budget. but mainly on players under 21 so i suppose it could be seen as a mixture.

whenever I'm buying someone, I will not pay anything over £10mil, for a person over 25, I do pay heavily for youngsters who are big names, but after the first 2 seasons I let my youth players come through and take over

Buy the best dam player out there mixed with youth making a side that is ready for now and the next 5 or 6 years

depends on how much money i have.

Mix of everything to keep it realistic...I lost interest quickly if I find myself with a team full of highly rated players in their early 20's and late teens.

i build a good team and and get youngster from all over at 16 and 17 ans watch them turn in to top quilty or pish players.i have seen about 40 players now that i have bought as 16 or 17 year olds since the game started up intill my season i am just starting 54/55 turn in to worldclass players i did not reall stay long enogh at the clubs to watch most of them devlop and when i did i had some chairman selling some of them.

Mixture of Both, but once my 1st team is strong enough, I'll be either aiming for youngsters or those on a Bosman, so my transfer kitty would not exceed 5 mil for a prem team

lately i've been playing as chelsea, so I should've said spend spend spend.....but usually I'm pretty frugal and on the look out for youngsters..... so I said normal

at arsenal and sevilla, i could afford a youth first policy. at espanyol, i've had little choice but to opt for experience to build a foundation on, and its woirking so far. hopefully, i'll be getting/finding some decent youth players to bring up through the club in a few years.

I AM ARSENE WENGER (well not exactly. I'm neither french or xenophobic)

As a gooner i always try to adopt the policies he has. The most i've spent on a player in fm08 was the 9.5m i forked out for matias fernandez.

Bargain Hunter and Youth. I only play MLS and Bundesliga so money is not around much of the time, but when I get it I hoard it. I also try to get the players who are the youngest. I rarely buy players over the age of 23 unless their stats are already maxed. South American countries not named Brazil and Argentina, or Scandinavia, can give you some bargain talent at a young age.

I sign too many players.

Youth and frees is how I do it. Only spend big if they will be huge in the future.

Like most, I invest in youth and enjoy seeing them develop. Due to the unrealistic regression model for older players in FM08 [i.e. over 30 their attributes tumble too rapidly across the board], I never buy anyone over about 28. SI have promised a better development model which I hope will make this aspect better as well as the appearance of Bojan-like wonderkids, so my policy may well be amended in FM09.

Depends on what situation I'm in. Usually aim to buy youth but if I'm at a big team I tend to buy a few established players aging between 20 and 29 and try to bring in a few youth then graudally just focus on youth unless the team situation demands that I bring in an established player to keep the status. At lower clubs I just buy whoever I can get for the positions I need for the first season or two then try to bring in some youth.

i mostly buy youths, but if i need a top quality player immediately, then i'll spend BIG if i have the funds to spare(e.g. 50mil - ramos, 70mil - fabregas)

At a top club, the priority is to win every single year. I won't sacrifice the current premiership just to save money. No one likes to splash 30 mil on a 30 year old but if I feel he is the difference, then I'd get him. If the team's strong enough already, then I'd invest in youth of course.

youngsters

I do a season or 2 of spending and then investing in youth