Why the transfer-system is still a mess.

[RedmanJB]

I'll look at one transfer and argue in regards to it.

Steve Mandanda - Marseille.

Valued 4.9m in my game.

Is the star goalkeeper in the team. If they sold him they would DEFINITELY need someone else.

Is an up and coming goalkeeper with caps for France.

Young, with great stats.

So we can establish that 4.9m is not a fair representation of his value. I concede that.

But lets look at the reasons why the requested transfer fee is so high.

Steve Mandanda is currently content at Marseille.

Steve Mandanda's contract does not run out in the near future.

Steve Mandanda is one of the league best.

Steve Mandanda has Marseille as his favoured club.

If Marseille sold Steve Mandanda, could they lure a better keeper? Who could they bring in that would make it worth selling Mandanda?

Marseille are rich. Money is probably of a lesser issue than quality players at the moment.

So my argument is...why the **** would Marseille want to sell Steve Mandanda for less then 25m? I know I wouldn't.

[woody2goody]

I managed to sign Sergio Agüero for £38m

PSG wants £35m for Mamadou Sakho

Stuttgart wants £34m for Mario Gomez

Lyon wants £60m for Karim Benzema

Udinese rejected £25m offer for Cristian Zapata

Wolfsburg wants £14m for Jan Simunek

Tolouse wants £15m for André-Pierre Gignac

Auxerre wants £17m for Remy Riou

Marseille wants £25m for Steve Mandanda

..and the list goes on.

Their set value is maybe 30-40% of the fee they demand.

For gods sake, fix it somehow.

Other than this, fantastic game.

Which team are you?

I ask this because transfers are all about circumstances.

If you are a small club you may get a lower asking price because the selling club may not see you as a threat, even if you negotiate with the player successfully.

If you are Chelsea bidding for a Man Utd player, Man Utd will no doubt ask for a larger amount. And it's the same with age. Young player + great potential = big transfer fees.

[Nicolai87]

I'm Arsenal, none of those are Premier League clubs.

So the value that the club has set is totally unimportant, then?

[VMX]

So you're happy with the transfer system? Come on.

Quote - "I myself sold Benayoun for 17m and Pennant for 15m. I mean come off it".

Like I said, guess I'll have to spend £28m on Mandanda or whoever, but I still need a central defender and maybe a striker. Guess I'll have to find some gems for £200k. Haha.

All I'm saying is

1. I find the system MUCH more realistic than the one in FM08. Selling players is now much easier, and buying players actually allows for NEGOTIATING, which is something that was previously impossible. There are teams who will ask for 30M for a player, but you'll be able to buy for 20 if you try hard.

2. The question is not what YOU need, because the rest of the teams in the world don't give a damn about that. The thing you should do is put yourself in the place of the other team's manager/chairman, look at the player's attributes and not to his so-called "value", and ask yourself: If someone came in with the same offer I'm making, would I even consider selling him? I'm pretty sure most of the times you wouldn't even bother to negotiate, but you would just plainly "Reject" the offer and that's about it. Other times, you *might* just bother to ask for stupid amounts of money, just in case the other team is stupid enough to give you such amount of money.

So, for them, you're not a buyer, you're just a potential stupid.

That's why none of those transfers look unrealistic to me except, maybe, Agüero, which I'm surprised you managed to get. I made a test and tried to sign Villa or Silva from Valencia to Real Madrid, it's almost impossible to achieve several signings of that kind (just like in real life), unless you have 200M to spend, as you said.

From my point of view, you should firstly make sure that you negotiate a better price, because I said this is not FM08, and in some cases the asking price is just a way of beginning the negotiation. Then, you should also consider that some players are NOT for sale, and that's their way of telling you so. Just put yourself in the skin of the other team's manager and I think you'll quickly understand those prices.

The 'player value' is just an orientation: the actual value of a player is the price the selling team are willing to let him go for. And that value sometimes doesn't exist, just like Man Utd didn't release Ronaldo in real life despite being offered 100M. Was Ronaldo worth 100M? Probably not, no player is. But still, they didn't sell him because they just don't want to.

You should try to keep a close eye on those players looking for possible problems with their managers or financial problems of their clubs, and then try to launch your offer.

[Ando THFC]

This argument comes round all the time because SI won't fundamentally address the problem. And everytime we have the debate, the deniers on the side of SI spout the same spurious points.

Before anone responds to this can they try and understand the point being made:

- I understand that clubs demand fees in excess of player's value because they are reluctant to sell.

- However, the premium used is too often unrealistically high.

So if a great prospect like Sakho is valued at £5 million and the club do not wish to sell, I expect to pay over the odds. A demand of £30 million though is ridiculous.

Someone mentioned Robbie Keane earlier in the thread in trying to defend SI but actually the Tottenham situation of the summer illustrates the game's failings. Based on his form last year, Keane's value in the summer might have been around £12 million but because he's at a club with no need or desire to sell, Liverpool are forced to pay (up to) £20 million.

Had that been in the game, you would have had to look at bidding around £30 million before Spurs would start taking your calls. And in the case of Berbatov - while £30 million was deemed too good to turn down in real life - I don't doubt that I need to be hitting the £40 million mark in a similar position in-game.

People here need to get a grip of reality and stop being so prepared to explain away every fault and bad habit of the game. Transfer negotiations are a real weak spot, have been for years and the prices demanded for players, especially relative unknowns with good potential, are unrealistically high.

[Ozzy38]

Yeah, well, Fernando Torres was Atletico's star player and they gave him up for, what, £20m?

Torres wanted to go to a Champions League club. After many years, Atletico couldn't keep hold of him especially cos they didn't qualify for the UEFA cup I believe.

van Nistelrooy to Real Madrid for £15m

He was practically on the transfer list.

Henry to Barca for £16m

He wanted to move on.

Nasri to Arsenal for £12m, Sagna to Arsenal for £7.5m, Alonso to Liverpool for £11m, Babel to Liverpool for £13m, Afonso Alves to Middlesbrough for £15m, Carvalho to Chelsea for £18m

What's wrong with these prices? I think you're underestimating how high a standing the Big 4 English clubs and the Premier League itself have amongst the once-powerful likes of the Dutch and French.

Adebayor to Arsenal for £5m, Deco to Barca for £8m

These were simply bargains, but the lure of Barcelona and Arsenal would be hard to resist as we have seen from your list.

Owen to Newcastle for £17m

Again he was practically transfer listed. Still a high price.

Benny McCarthy to Blackburn for £2m

He was in the final year of his contract and wasn't going to re-sign.

Anyway, if you're having trouble finding good enough players for good prices, that's not our problem!

[Rickinho88]

Not that i know the full details but Nasri was considered on of the best, had Marsielle listed as his fav club. I doubt that he was unhappy. Whilst compared to a goalkeeper may be replacable.

But overall more or less in the same boat as Steve Mandanda. He was sold for 11/12m

[VMX]

I'm Arsenal, none of those are Premier League clubs.

So the value that the club has set is totally unimportant, then?

I don't think that value is supposed to be "set" by their clubs. But rather an estimation of how much the player is worth according to his attributes. A Mercedes can be valued at 30,000 € at a maket value, but the person who owns it might not have a reason to sell it and be left without a car, might like it a lot, and might not be willing to sell it unless a stupid amount of money is offered to him (say, 100,000 €).

Personally, if you ask me, no matter what the price of a player is... if a team comes in with a good offer for a first team player I have no intention to sell, I'll probably scan the market and look for another player who is, at least, as good as the current one, if not better. If I find one, his price will be the less I'll ask for my current player. If I can't find anyone, I'll either reject the offer or ask for a stupid amount, just in case I'm facing a 'potential stupid'.

Do you know what I mean?

[Rickinho88]

I Think The Problem is that SI made a song and dance about ripping out the old code and writing a new one. Mot people seem to agree that it is improved but i think the transfer system is by no means the games strong point. I dont think the game will be predicting many real life transfers just yet miles!

[Tyler]

Thats way too much money to spent, I'll stick with free transfers and season long loans lol

[kennhyl]

i dont mind about the transfers cos i just signed michael owen for £4.2m for liverpool a week into the game (he's still injured but will be back in 3 weeks) :D lol

[Rickinho88]

I think another problem is that in game there is no personality. In games benitez rarely signs just spanish players and arsene pays 20m for a winger. Doesn't happen. May be deeper than just transfer system

[VexingVixen]

Is there like a list of improvements? Because it seems exactly the same to me.

I made a bid for Vincent Kompany and Man City wanted 24 million. He's hardly their star player.

I made a £10m bid for Lassana Diarra and Pompey wanted 18 million. In real life, Pompey would have bit my arm off at the sight of 10 million.

Seems the only way to get a player for cheap is to have him unsettled. : /

Also selling players is just the same as previous version, I have trouble selling players that IRL would go for 5-8 million.

[acmilano112000]

What I think some people have to understand about real life transfers is there are many reasons which make certain transfers higher than others, irrespective of the quality of the player.

Torres, for example, has been discussed here. Do you know why Torres was sold relatively cheaply (with relation to his ability level) by Atletico? Because he had outgrown the club and for a few seasons they understood that he would have to be sold sooner or later. In the summer of 07 they knew that the player himself wanted a bigger challenge and that they couldn't keep him. Liverpool came in with a bid that was large, but reflected the fact that Atletico couldn't keep Torres and had to sell. Atletico had to say yes, or else they'd be holding a huge asset that didn't want to play for them.

Same thing with Henry going for 16m to Barca, he wanted to go, Arsenal couldn't keep him, and his contract was running out, so at least they got something. It doesn't mean that he's a "16m" player and Anderson (bought for 17m that same summer) is better. It just means they were subject to different transfer circumstances. Barca paid for Henry who is growing past his prime, Anderson was bought before his, etc.

This is why certain teams can claim they'd only sell players (like Aulas @ Lyon setting crazy prices for Benzema) for huge amounts. If a top player has a new contract and loves playing for the club, then they can set whatever crazy price they want. This is rightly true in FM and in real life.

Someone above complained about not being able to buy Lloris from Lyon for 35m. You forget though that Lyon just bought him this summer for 8.5m euros. Have you ever seen a team buy a high level player and sell him in the same, or immediately following xfer window? No. Only in silly circumstances if he didn't get on, etc. I think this is something that FM does well. It is, and should be, nearly impossible to sign players who have just been transferred within 6 months or a year. Try buying Lloris on FM next summer and I will bet that you are able to for significantly less.

In all, I think FM transfers have been improved from what I'm hearing. I haven't played the full game yet, but the numbers people are talking about here seem on target mostly. Games like FM sometimes make people forget to think about the context of a transfer and instead look purely at the number.

[Tyler]

That was a really good post acmilano112000.

[Sundodger]

I think both sides to this discussion have valid points. If a club does not want to sell a star player they will jack up the price and some of the prices are ridiculous. The big problem I have is that when big clubs want my star players they unsettle the player and he wants to leave but then I can never get them to give me similar prices.

One example I can think of in 08 was when I was Liverpool and bought Akinfeev for about twice his value. After about 4 season (two world goalkeeper awards later) Real Madrid, Juve, AC Milan, etc.wanted him. He whined that he wanted to go somewhere else and play and his morale plummeted so I was willing to sell but all the interested clubs were only willing to pay about 75% of his value. Now granted, he was older but still a world class keeper and yet I couldn't even get his listed price.

So I saved the game and loaded a new manager as Real Madrid, resigned from Liverpool so the AI would control them and tried to buy him as Real Madrid. Just like I expected they wanted about twice the listed value and wouldn't budge.

It's the inequity of not being able to sell stars for the same prices as computer controlled clubs that kill me. This what I was hoping they were going to fix

[jack_man]

I got gomez for 18mil

[Nicolai87]

That's why none of those transfers look unrealistic to me except, maybe, Agüero, which I'm surprised you managed to get. I made a test and tried to sign Villa or Silva from Valencia to Real Madrid, it's almost impossible to achieve several signings of that kind (just like in real life), unless you have 200M to spend, as you said.

I don't expect to sign several starplayers, nor do I want to. I want to buy Mamadou Sakho or Cristian Zapata, and Remy Riou. I thought £15m or a maximum of £20m would get me both players, but guess what? I have to pay £50m to get two of them. I've tried negotiating with PSG till my hands bled, but they won't let him go for anything less than £24m. I mean, come on, PSG would have sold him twice for anything more than £10m. Remember Nasri only costed about £12m and he was one of the hottest prospects of Ligue 1 before he departed. Has anyone really heard of Sakho except for in FM and on a random teamsheet you read in the paper?

[Nicolai87]

This argument comes round all the time because SI won't fundamentally address the problem. And everytime we have the debate, the deniers on the side of SI spout the same spurious points.

Before responds to this can they try and understand the point being made:

- I understand that clubs demand fees in excess of player's value because they are reluctant to sell.

- However, the premium used is too often unrealistically high.

So if a great prospect like Sakho is valued at £5 million and the club do not wish to sell, I expect to pay over the odds. A demand of £30 million though is ridiculous.

Someone mentioned Robbie Keane earlier in the thread in trying to defend SI but actually the Tottenham situation of the summer illustrates the game's failings. Based on his form last year, Keane's value in the summer might have been around £12 million but because he's at a club with no need or desire to sell, Liverpool are forced to pay (up to) £20 million.

Had that been in the game, you would have had to look at bidding around £30 million before Spurs would start taking your calls. And in the case of Berbatov - while £30 million was deemed too good to turn down in real life - I don't doubt that I need to be hitting the £40 million mark in a similar position in-game.

People here need to get a grip of reality and stop being so prepared to explain anyway every fault and bad habit of the game. Transfer negotiations are a real weak spot, have been for years and the prices demanded for players, especially relative unknowns with good potential, is unrealistically high.

Thank you!

[03bault]

The problem with the transfer system was that it was very difficult to sell transfer listed players and negotiating was terrible. I never believed there was a problem with the prices of 'star' players or a club's best player because why the hell would they sell anyway. There are times in the game where great players become available but you cant expect to pick out any player you want because its not how it works.

[Nicolai87]

The problem with the transfer system was that it was very difficult to sell transfer listed players and negotiating was terrible. I never believed there was a problem with the prices of 'star' players or a club's best player because why the hell would they sell anyway. There are times in the game where great players become available but you cant expect to pick out any player you want because its not how it works.

Exactly. It wasn't a problem with players being overpriced except the real world stars, which was fair. I'm not even on about buying superstars for my starting 11. I'm talking about a backup central defender, 19 years of age, estimated value £5m, plays for PSG, and they want at least £24m for him. That's pretty much a summary of everything that bothers me. £24m for Sakho!? He's not even their best player, far from it. And like another guy here said, he managed to sell Benayoun for £18m and Pennant for £15m. I mean, where's the realism in that?

[wakey]

I managed to sign Sergio Agüero for £38m

Stuttgart wants £34m for Mario Gomez

Lyon wants £60m for Karim Benzema

These are 3 players who were during the summer linked with Man Utd at one point or other.

Agüero was talked about at the £35mill mark

Stuttgart apparently wanted something in the £30mill mark

Lyon put an £86mill price tag on Benzema

[FM1000]

I think both sides to this discussion have valid points. If a club does not want to sell a star player they will jack up the price and some of the prices are ridiculous. The big problem I have is that when big clubs want my star players they unsettle the player and he wants to leave but then I can never get them to give me similar prices.

One example I can think of in 08 was when I was Liverpool and bought Akinfeev for about twice his value. After about 4 season (two world goalkeeper awards later) Real Madrid, Juve, AC Milan, etc.wanted him. He whined that he wanted to go somewhere else and play and his morale plummeted so I was willing to sell but all the interested clubs were only willing to pay about 75% of his value. Now granted, he was older but still a world class keeper and yet I couldn't even get his listed price.

So I saved the game and loaded a new manager as Real Madrid, resigned from Liverpool so the AI would control them and tried to buy him as Real Madrid. Just like I expected they wanted about twice the listed value and wouldn't budge.

It's the inequity of not being able to sell stars for the same prices as computer controlled clubs that kill me. This what I was hoping they were going to fix

I agree with you but as you said the exaple is in Fm 2008!And people need to rember that this is a GAME!!!

[Nicolai87]

Decided to place a £21m bid for Sakho, and it got accepted. Good news is that he demands £88k a week!

[adriannos]

i dont have the new game yet but this was one of the major flaws in the last game....35-40 mill should secure the best players on the game if the transfer system is to be realistic....providing the club wishes to sell!!! as far as im concerned only messi & ronaldo in the current market would command a fee higher than 40mill if the club was willing to sell!

[MSCCG]

I think people complain about the prices so much because they can never stand firm and just look for another player, instead spending 3 times what they should be paying. They just want the easy way out because they have millions in the bank and they spend it, and after they do, they realize that they were cheated by the game. It makes them feel stupid, so they start complaining that it isn't realistic when the fact they they agreed to pay so much was the more unrealistic action.

When you get asked £25m for a goalkeeper you say "next!" or try to negotiate, a £25m asking price might be negotiated down to £17m which is what Mandanda could be sold for realistically. The negotiation is the major leap in the transfer system this year.

[Nicolai87]

I'm so tired of people making plain assumptions based on nothing. It has nothing to do with me being obsessed with Mandanda, Sakho, whoever, it's a matter of principle. PSG would never get anything close to £21m for Sakho, I even doubt they could get a eight-figured fee. Same goes for Mandanda. £30m isn't realistic, and neither is £17m.

[Drunk Beware]

It's alot more realistic now.

[HappyNoodleBhoy]

As Celtic I wanted fill out my reserves and U19's with players who were at least potentially going to be 3 star and gut out the useless players. The problem is that most of the players in the SPL who are U19 and potentially 3 star (which is average at best IMO) will not be allowed to join my club for under £100k, which is an insane amount for SPL clubs to demand for 16/17 year olds that aren't even special.

[*Injektilo]

These are 3 players who were during the summer linked with Man Utd at one point or other.

Agüero was talked about at the £35mill mark

Stuttgart apparently wanted something in the £30mill mark

Lyon put an £86mill price tag on Benzema

Heh... I was just going to post the exact same comment.

I suppose real life is unrealistic too...

[stonecold_jpm]

I agree the fees are bordering on the riddiculous at times. Aston Villa wants 28m for Gareth Barry and 48m for Ashley Young!

[nilneil]

If you think they cost to much don't buy them look for a cheaper player. If you got that much to spend on players people are going to ask for more money look at Chelsea the paid 32mil for Sheva never worth it at his age.

If a club comes back saying they want 35 million you don’t have to offer it you can negotiate and go back with 20 million they may expect it or the chairman may say cracking bid will take that. The transferring of a player is a game and you have to learn to play it. If you telling me you've never asked a ridicules price for one of your players who clearly not worth it but then a team comes back with a figure that stops and makes you thing hang on XX million for him I could buy X and Y with that then your missing out

There always the other option if you are not happy with this you should take your coaching badges and manage a real team and see how easy it is to buy players.

[Takamaru]

Didn't have time to read the whole thread since I have to head out, and it has probably been mentioned, but of course contracts also have an influence on the fee. A club would be much more comfortable to turn down an offer for a player who still has 3 or 4 years on their contract to get an even higher amount, compared a player that has 1 or 2 years left and is not willing to discuss new terms with his current club because of their status in the world for example.

I don't really play with high profile clubs in FM, but maybe it's worth a thought when you're trying to buy top talents or big players.

[RobinGoodey]

**Shrug**

Benzema is about to be sold in my game for 6.5million pounds.

I demand a refund, the game is totally unrealistic and rubbish

[433tom]

Lyon said they would not take anything less than £60m for Benzema this pat July. So that one is spot on.

[GhostyGhostGhost]

You do realise that it is almost impossible to buy players that have only joined the club in the summer? If you go to the player history and see that he is a new player for that club you might as well forget about signing him.

You will have to bid a stupid amount of money and if you do get the club to accept a bid the player will usually demand stupid wages to move as he would rather stay at his new club.

This is pretty basic as well as realistic as how many players get sold on to two clubs in the same transfer window (except for Hamman)?

[Faure]

Yeah, well, Fernando Torres was Atletico's star player and they gave him up for, what, £20m? van Nistelrooy to Real Madrid for £15m, Henry to Barca for £16m, Nasri to Arsenal for £12m, Sagna to Arsenal for £7.5m, Adebayor to Arsenal for £5m, Owen to Newcastle for £17m, Alonso to Liverpool for £11m, Babel to Liverpool for £13m, Afonso Alves to Middlesbrough for £15m, Deco to Barca for £8m, Carvalho to Chelsea for £18m, Benny McCarthy to Blackburn for £2m, and the list goes on and on and on. All these were "star" players for their former clubs.

Iirc Atletico needed the money, Nistelrooy had a row with Ferguson, Henry wanted a new challenge, Owen is crap (just like Robben injured 90% of the time), Babel is overrated as hell, can't believe Liverpool payed that much for him xD, Alves had to leave, otherwise it would be another year of whining by him, Deco wasn't that big back then, same goes for Carcalho, McCarthy i don't see why that's a star player, he was once, when he was young...

[acko85]

same as Faure's comment about the players, the examples you gave were for players that werent the star attractions anymore, maybe Torres but £20 mil for somebody who come up throough the ranks is going to be hard to turn down especially if you need the money. Only only one what seemed abit high was the Sakho deal, but as someone already said, PSG were probably trying to price you out of the market for him.

[robin_trott_hoof]

An odd example from my game by way of an example of something that's not quite right.

Start of the second season and Gary Cahill left Bolton for Man City for £5.5million. Twelve days later, he joined Arsenal for £14.5 million. Which would probably mean that negotiations for the Arsenal move started the same day he joined Man City.

[Sundodger]

I agree with you but as you said the exaple is in Fm 2008!And people need to rember that this is a GAME!!!

The reason I brought up an example from 08 is that it is an example of one of the main flaws I see in the transfer engine.

I was hoping they were going to fix this, but apparently not, as I still run into the same problem in 09. I can't sell stars (or any player for that matter) for their full value but have to pay generally twice their value for stars and even rotation/back-up type players.

[sortitoutsi!!]

ok gomez and benzema are maybe a lil bit too high but what do you expect? clubs will hand over their star players for a few quid? who do you think you are saf?

[Chochip]

Stop complaining and learn to do business. Just because this is a game it doesn't mean you just go out and bid for however much that says on the screen. You start rumours and make praising comments for the player and do things to create an atmosphere, not just bid some amout of money for a player suddenly. Expecting that you just walk up to someone and go "I will pay you this much, you give me this player ok?" <- this is more unrealistic.

[Tal_Hides]

There's a saying that 'every player has his price.' Clubs often say they wont sell a player for any amount of money. This is blatantly not true, every player would be sold for an amount that is too good to turn down, but these clubs are hardly going to advertise what that value is, because they want as much as they can get.

From what I've seen of the transfer system, if I make a derisory offer for a player, it gets rejected outright. I'd probably do the same, the figure isn't even worth negotiating. If you bid for a player the club really doesn't want to lose, they ask for silly money. If they're not in financial trouble, and the player isn't unsettled, why should they cave to your demands? It might just be that you're not offering anywhere near what they think to be a fair valuation, and to show you that, they add another 5%-10% on top of what they actually want. Have you actually tried negotiating back down from their demands, throwing in various clauses rather than a lump sum? I tend to find that transfer deals more accurately replicate real life in that they come with a lot of clauses on appearances, goals, international appearances and so on. I usually have more luck if I add such things on to mine.

Finally, you can't just claim the transfer system is broken because you can't buy every player you set your eyes on. Besides, the code rewrite wasn't aimed at changing player valuations, it was aimed at changing the way the AI uses shortlists, making them focus on more than one player for a given position, rather than chasing the same player until the close of the transfer window, and also making it easier for loan deals and selling players in a human controlled team.

[Donners]

I don't know if things have changed with 08 and 09, but from 07 and earlier, it was never necessary to spend money to succeed.

As long as you take a close look at what's out there, big fees are completely unnecessary.

[4Site]

I'm Arsenal, I got Benzema for £6.5m after he got unsettled when i was biddin 11m and it wasn't being accepted. But if someone came in with a £200m bid for Fabregas, I wouldn't sell him... why should i? Who am I going to replace him with? In that respect maybe the game is realistic.

WHAT DOES PEE ME OFF HOWEVER, is how players seem to get unsettled quite easily even though the team interested is at most on par with you in terms of reputation.

AND my biggest problem is contract negotiations. I'm Arsenal I have a bid for Dario Crna(spelling?) accepted and so does Tottenham. I offer him Key Player status with £90,000 a week basic plus £2.5m signing on fee. Tottenham offer him Rotation status £50,000 a week plus £1.5m signing on fee. Which offer does he accept? Yep you've guessed it the Spuds one.

....mmmmm very realistic, yes.

This seems to happen a lot in my games.

[*Injektilo]

ok gomez and benzema are maybe a lil bit too high but what do you expect? clubs will hand over their star players for a few quid? who do you think you are saf?

But they are not high. If anything, they're lower than in real life, especially regarding Benzema.

[Donners]

AND my biggest problem is contract negotiations. I'm Arsenal I have a bid for Dario Crna(spelling?) accepted and so does Tottenham. I offer him Key Player status with £90,000 a week basic plus £2.5m signing on fee. Tottenham offer him Rotation status £50,000 a week plus £1.5m signing on fee. Which offer does he accept? Yep you've guessed it the Spuds one.

....mmmmm very realistic, yes.

This seems to happen a lot in my games.

What's worse is when a player refuses to re-sign at your club without a big wage increase, despite being perfectly happy there, and then goes and accepts less money than what they were rejecting at a smaller club.

[Ranson52]

It’s a pointless comparing real life transfers and computer based transfers.

There are a host of reasons for fees being so high or low in real life that could not possibly be replicated by a computer no matter how clever the programmer.

That said, I do think at times the computer world of transfers leaves something to be desired. In my experience with FM over the past couple of years, trying to sell players, indeed even offering to give them away had proved to be almost impossible.

Now we are seeing strange asking prices.

Is it something to work on as a Manager, the skill to negotiate transfers for reasonable prices, I think it is.

No question, if you want to headhunt the best players in various teams you are going to have to pay through the nose for them.

[follow the blind]

Deco to Barca for £8m, Carvalho to Chelsea for £18m, Benny McCarthy to Blackburn for £2mAll these were "star" players for their former clubs.

if your gonna post these "facts" atleast post truthfully.

The transfer for deco included the base amount and a certain player called Ricardo Quaresma.

DC's dont usually go for HUGE fees, and that was huge back then.

Also i would hardly call benni mcarthy a "star" for us.

Porto is not a 'rich' club able to negotiate such high quantities.

sorry but what are you talking about? Have you seen the amount of money we are getting every season?

[carragherisgod]

Yeah, well, Fernando Torres was Atletico's star player and they gave him up for, what, £20m? van Nistelrooy to Real Madrid for £15m, Henry to Barca for £16m, Nasri to Arsenal for £12m, Sagna to Arsenal for £7.5m, Adebayor to Arsenal for £5m, Owen to Newcastle for £17m, Alonso to Liverpool for £11m, Babel to Liverpool for £13m, Afonso Alves to Middlesbrough for £15m, Deco to Barca for £8m, Carvalho to Chelsea for £18m, Benny McCarthy to Blackburn for £2m, and the list goes on and on and on. All these were "star" players for their former clubs.

Weren't most of these players near the end of their contracts anyways? Better sell them "cheap" than get nothing for them.