Is Champions League kudos coded into the game?

I've a number of abnormalities in the league table and Arsenal have for a while been lower mid table also rans and more often than not random teams are hitting the top 4.

IRL players who are wanted by the top four wouldn't go anyone outside the Champions League. Its as if you have the top 4. Then Spurs and Liverpool with an outside chance, then everyone else.

Are teams with champions league football picking from an elite pool of players in the game?

The ability to offer continental football does help attract better quality players to a club & the Champions League is given more credit that the Europa League.

The ability to offer continental football does help attract better quality players to a club & the Champions League is given more credit that the Europa League.

I see. Again IRL we are seeing champions league clubs deal very directly with one another for players. Utd want Ramos for Van De Gueuaauey, sold Di Maria to PSG, taken Sweinsteiger from Munich etc. I don't know if 'continental football does help attract' goes far enough. I think there has to be an element to a player's erm.... backstory... that would only accept champions league football and from only certain teams.

I think there has to be an element to a player's erm.... backstory... that would only accept champions league football and from only certain teams.

Players at incredibly high reputation clubs playing in the Champions League are pretty unlikely to move to any club out of that bracket. That's true both in-game and in real-life. Any move by a player from a massive club to a smaller one usually comes because a player wants more playing time, or rarely because the smaller team is offering silly money.

Plus I think you have to be careful in assuming that Man Utd's transfer activity in this window merits scaling up to this extent, because it's not representative of even Man Utd's transfer history let alone the transfer history of all big clubs.