What do you pay attention to when signing a new player?

[ima92]

Just wondering, what does everyone look for when they are looking to sign a player, especially in teams without a huge budget, who cant just go around signing world stars..

I notice that many times i send my scouts to scout a certain player which seems good, and had also been doing well in his team, but they come back with a 2 star rating saying I should avoid signing him.. this normally keeps me from signing that player, but ive actually had 2 star players who had performed way better than 4 star ones, it seems I just dont trust myself enough when signing... thats why I ask, what should I especially pay attention to when looking for a player to sign?

[MichaelBrown]

Unless I'm a top team, I don't pay that much attention to scouts. I look at his stats, age, wage demands etc, then I decide how 'balanced' his stats are and how he could benefit my squad as a whole.

He doesn't have to slot straight into the first team, if I'm a lower league club I pay attention to those who can cover a lot of positions to minimalise wage costs.

[alucasa]

First of all, I look at injury history. If he is too injury prone, I am not going to waste money to keep paying him while he's out for months.

And then I look at fitness/stamina. I want those two to be at least 13+. That is because I cannot afford to keep many players outside of first 11 since my club is small but yet participates in UCL and Europa. If they can't stay fit playing at least two games a week, they are useless to me.

[Aidan1991]

Unless I'm a top team, I don't pay that much attention to scouts. I look at his stats, age, wage demands etc, then I decide how 'balanced' his stats are and how he could benefit my squad as a whole.

He doesn't have to slot straight into the first team, if I'm a lower league club I pay attention to those who can cover a lot of positions to minimalise wage costs.

Same here mate.

[Aidan1991]

First of all, I look at injury history. If he is too injury prone, I am not going to waste money to keep paying him while he's out for months.

And then I look at fitness/stamina. I want those two to be at least 13+. That is because I cannot afford to keep many players outside of first 11 since my club is small but yet participates in UCL and Europa. If they can't stay fit playing at least two games a week, they are useless to me.

Yeah you need a fit squad if you're grinding out long seasons in the lower leagues, having your top players on the pitch could make the difference.

[CarltonBanks]

Trusting scouts entirely usually isn't the best idea, especially when managing a lower league team who's scouts probably don't have the best stats. I always like to get a clear idea of what formation/roles I want to play, and then look for players who have the stats I want for the positions I want.

[walsh]

It's very important for me to see how they have performed in the game so far. Some players, even with good stats, just seem to be incapable of performing well/the way you want them to. This is probably a lot to do with hidden stats and preferred moves amongst other things.

[Auqakuh]

The first priority (for me) is checking their PPMs - well, after making sure they're actually a viable target financially, obviously! If they have PPMs that are inappropriate to their future role (as I see it) or don't fit with my style of play (eg, "runs with ball often" -> no thanks, not unless they're Messi), then there's no point going further.

First in terms of attributes I look at Composure, Decisions, Technique, Determination, Concentration, Teamwork, and Workrate. The last two are sometimes least important, depending on position. Composure, Determination, and Concentration I generally place as most important. How good I want those attributes to actually be depends on what level I'm managing at, and what position they play (lower work rate is acceptable in some positions; a CB with low Technique might be acceptable, and so on). Secondarily in terms of attributes, I then look at Stamina and Natural Fitness. If they're an attacking player and not a wide player, I never care much about Pace, but Acceleration is a big bonus, because it's very helpful in beating a player with dribbling - change of pace is, arguably, the most important facet of getting past your man or evading a marker.

It's only if all or most of these are fairly solid (for the level my club is at) that I begin thinking about attributes that apply to their position. If those are OK as well, then I look at player personality.

There are too many personality types to go into what's unacceptable or acceptable, but essentially I go for personalities that imply high Pressure and Professionalism.

I then look at their player history, if far enough into the game to do so. This is perhaps actually in the end the most important part, because I need to know how consistent the player is. If there's any suggestion that they have a poor Consistency attribute... then there's no chance I'm signing them. Likewise, I need to know if they pick up a lot of injuries, and this informs on that. I also usually have a look at their performances in some big games, to see if there's a consistent significant fall in their performance; this would imply they have a poor Important Matches attribute. Don't want them if that's the case, no matter the level.

Finally, I get a report card from my best scout at either judging potential or ability, depending on whether I'm signing a youngster or a more developed player. This doesn't really decide whether I'll sign them or not, but allows me to check my own thoughts on their ability against what the scout thinks.

[oneronaldo]

The only thing I use scouts for is to find out the possible wage demands of the players I want to sign, and possibly the amount his club is willing to accept to begin negotiations. I wouldn't give a toss what my scouts think of him unless its specific weakness "Consistency" or something detrimental to his position on the field.

[bennymc]

The first priority (for me) is checking their PPMs - well, after making sure they're actually a viable target financially, obviously! If they have PPMs that are inappropriate to their future role (as I see it) or don't fit with my style of play (eg, "runs with ball often" -> no thanks, not unless they're Messi), then there's no point going further.

First in terms of attributes I look at Composure, Decisions, Technique, Determination, Concentration, Teamwork, and Workrate. The last two are sometimes least important, depending on position. Composure, Determination, and Concentration I generally place as most important. How good I want those attributes to actually be depends on what level I'm managing at, and what position they play (lower work rate is acceptable in some positions; a CB with low Technique might be acceptable, and so on). Secondarily in terms of attributes, I then look at Stamina and Natural Fitness. If they're an attacking player and not a wide player, I never care much about Pace, but Acceleration is a big bonus, because it's very helpful in beating a player with dribbling - change of pace is, arguably, the most important facet of getting past your man or evading a marker.

It's only if all or most of these are fairly solid (for the level my club is at) that I begin thinking about attributes that apply to their position. If those are OK as well, then I look at player personality.

There are too many personality types to go into what's unacceptable or acceptable, but essentially I go for personalities that imply high Pressure and Professionalism.

I then look at their player history, if far enough into the game to do so. This is perhaps actually in the end the most important part, because I need to know how consistent the player is. If there's any suggestion that they have a poor Consistency attribute... then there's no chance I'm signing them. Likewise, I need to know if they pick up a lot of injuries, and this informs on that. I also usually have a look at their performances in some big games, to see if there's a consistent significant fall in their performance; this would imply they have a poor Important Matches attribute. Don't want them if that's the case, no matter the level.

Finally, I get a report card from my best scout at either judging potential or ability, depending on whether I'm signing a youngster or a more developed player. This doesn't really decide whether I'll sign them or not, but allows me to check my own thoughts on their ability against what the scout thinks.

This is a great post. I also look at the mental abilities you've pinpointed (+ aggression), but not the rest of it in quite so much detail. I'll bear those in mind going forward.

One thing I want to ask though, regarding attribute values, what number do you consider appropriate for each level? That's one thing I often struggle with when I'm playing LLM games. For the top levels I aim for 15+, but I don't really have a benchmark for any lower. Do you?

[milnerpoint]

Unless I'm a top team, I don't pay that much attention to scouts. I look at his stats, age, wage demands etc, then I decide how 'balanced' his stats are and how he could benefit my squad as a whole.

He doesn't have to slot straight into the first team, if I'm a lower league club I pay attention to those who can cover a lot of positions to minimalise wage costs.

Mostly this, but i tend to look for a couple of key attributes for the role i want, then a quick check of performance history.

[Britrock]

I use the scout reports to find the players, then compare the recommended attributes for the role they're going to play and then use their history to see if they're a consistent performer, aiming to only sign players that average over 7 (I tend to play challenge games that start in year 2, so most players have a year's worth of appearances)