How to get the best deal for youngsters as a small club?

[santy001]

Begun playing a save in the Irish leagues and got lucky that a couple of regens have come through who are pretty good, at this level the star rating system is no indication of overall quality but both came through with 5 star potential and at 4.5 star and 5 stars for current ability as well. A few top end championship sides/bottom end premiership sides are interested, a couple of managers have been mentioned as 'keeping an eye on x/y' but the main problem is they're both on youth contracts age 16 with no real value the highest of the two being worth 6.75k.

Obviously no big bids are going to be coming for these players, the only bid I have received so far was £0 + 25% sell on fee, I don't expect these players to command any great fee in the future, I might be wrong but I can't see them developing beyond the level of the clubs interested, their starting points just aren't high enough for that. What works best and is most likely to bring in some cash for the players though in terms of deals over time etc? They're both Irish so of course even a bit of time with a decent championship side could see them get a call up to the national team but that's like 5/6 years away unless they do develop extremely quickly.

[jayahr]

Well, I'd say that if you are going to sell, then you should go for a maximum profit percentage.

When looking at the level of the interested clubs they must have immense potential as otherwise those would not be interested in a player from such a low reputation competition. Therefore I'd guess that you are much more likely to receive substantial future payments than getting anything remotely equivalent right now.

And mind, the may not even have to sell those kids. You may be able to cash in on a buy out agreement before.

Alternatively I'd consider trying to keep them for another few years at least, make them cornerstones of your team and raise their value by raising team rep before selling.

[9sublime]

Are they interested in signing a pre-contract so you can at least tie them down for 2 years + and increase their potential sell-on value?

[Cougar2010]

Having managed teams in both Ireland and Wales in previous FMs I think any fee in excess of £100k is doing well.

Personally I would set their asking price to say £250k and try and tie them down to contracts asap. If offers then do come in they should be around £50k-£100k, with a bit of negotiation you should be able to get about £100k and some future fees.

[Foot]

Personally, I hold onto any player that I think has the potential to improve beyond players in my first team, as it seems silly to sell a kid off who may win me a title in the future. I normally just reject transfer offers until they give me something too good to turn down (i.e. ridiculous initial fee with a good % future sale clause).

If the player is unlikely to sign a new contract with you, just take what you can get, with a preference for % of future sale over initial fees, as a player will ALWAYS increase in value until they are in their late 20's. The only risk with this is if the club lets the contract run out... which is a risk worth taking in my book.