FM24 Feature Blog: Smarter Transfers, Squad Building and Finance

[Jimmy Wong]

Our continued drive to mirror developments in the real footballing world make Football Manager 2024 the most complete edition in the series yet. 

Two areas where we’ve worked extensively that powerfully reflect this are recruitment and finance.

On the recruitment front, we’ve significantly improved the decision-making and team selection capabilities of AI managers. You’ll also see that your game world better reflects the current trends of the real-life transfer market.

It’s not just recruitment that’s been made smarter, though. We’ve also put vast work into upgrading the in-game Finance system to ensure that there’s greater dynamism and volatility in every career. 

Visit the Football Manager Website to find out more about this feature. 

[stevemc]

Nice feature this, hopefully leads to better, more interesting and realistic long term saves with smarter AI in FM24, including younger players being called up for International matches.

Didn't spot a mention on transfers trends like the Saudi Pro League spending this summer, hopefully that's reflected too.

Edited September 19, 2023 by stevemc

[Grez]

Genuinely the best feature blog I've read in years.

There's always a lot of focus on big headline features, but it's these core-gameplay improvements that actually make or break the football manager experience.

If the AI actually builds real squads, develops their youth, and rotates correctly it'll make such a big difference to how we enjoy the game and compete.

I do wonder how it'll affect game difficulty. If the AI makes better decisions the game should be harder, which as an experienced player is VERY welcome, I just wonder how we balance the game for both newbies and veterans alike.

[CARRERA]

Great first feature blog. Reads well, let's see how it plays :-)

[albertocerdeira.4]

Very happy with this blog. If this is well implemented, It's the most exciting blog I've could read

[Drago_zgb]

Does that means that as some league increaces in popularity and rises up in euro coef, that they will attract more sponsors and tv rights money?

If you take 20th league and it rises to be in top5 league, you still get the same amount of money, which is ridiciluos. I really hope that it means it will be better now.

Game is completely ruined for smaller league long-term saves.

Tha same is with sponsors, i really hope that if you bring your small time club to be team with highest reputation in the world, their sponsors income will increase significantly, and not just from 1,5mil to 2,5mil.

Cant wait for new FM

[DMaster2]

I truly hope they fixed the terrible AI growth in FM23. I'm glad they are making effort to see more young players getting game time (it was miserable being an international manager and see your young prospect warming the bench or rotting in the U23) and seeing squads and national sides of 30+ years players.

 

But also i hope they fixed the lack of technical growth player have in FM23. You get a ton of beasts in terms of physical and mental attributes but a lot of players lack good technical abilities. The lack of crossing for natural full and wing backs have been a meme at this point.

[gbin]

We have seen Chelsea spending almost 1B on transfers and these amounts are spread across the length of the contract given. Will this calculation be in the new FM?

[alian62]

Good to see tickets prices being affected by reputations of the leagues . Hope this works 

[Mitza]

This shows once again that SI does listen to community feedback. Half of the new features described are things myself and others constantly described or ran experiments for in feedback channels and they're actually fixing most of it. 

Quote

Their approach will now place a stronger focus on a player’s Potential Ability rather than their Current Ability when players are looking for backup/rotation options to an established first-team starter.

Quote

Elsewhere, we’ve also made a few tweaks to player development. Some will see an accelerated improvement in their teenage years before hitting their potential ceiling earlier on. Meanwhile, a new system has been introduced to recognise ‘Late Developers’, or those players who don’t breakthrough until slightly later than would be considered typical. 

Youth development was strongly flawed in FM23, but it seems like it's going to be fixed. 

As the final version of 'classic' FMs, FM24 is shaping to be the best version yet.

[SergeiG]

I really want to believe SI, I just can't after repeated broken promises about fixing the game, especially the transfer market and the AI.

FM23 when it comes to transfers is probably the worst of them all, I just don't see how FM24 will magically be fixed.

 

As of now, you can take a tiny team like Salford from League 2 and make it a Champions League team in less than 10 years, a big part of why it can happen so easily is due to the broken transfer system and moronic AI.

[DarJ]

14 hours ago, SergeiG said:

As of now, you can take a tiny team like Salford from League 2 and make it a Champions League team in less than 10 years, a big part of why it can happen so easily is due to the broken transfer system and moronic AI

It’s a game so that is always going to be possible no matter what they do.

[CTxCB]

On 19/09/2023 at 16:02, Jimmy Wong said:

Our continued drive to mirror developments in the real footballing world make Football Manager 2024 the most complete edition in the series yet. 

Two areas where we’ve worked extensively that powerfully reflect this are recruitment and finance.

On the recruitment front, we’ve significantly improved the decision-making and team selection capabilities of AI managers. You’ll also see that your game world better reflects the current trends of the real-life transfer market.

It’s not just recruitment that’s been made smarter, though. We’ve also put vast work into upgrading the in-game Finance system to ensure that there’s greater dynamism and volatility in every career. 

Visit the Football Manager Website to find out more about this feature. 

@Jimmy Wong I have a question about the 'Smarter Transfers', hopefully you or another of the SI team can answer? Is the Smarter Transfers also going to fix the long-running issue with the AI in transfer negotiations, where say to reduce the wage bill or trim the squad, you offer the player as a player swap in a another deal. Say I'm PSG, and I want to offload an 'unsellable' or surplus to requirements player such as Colin Dagba (who's on around £20K p/w), the logical thing would be to add him into a cash transfer deal for another player, as a bonus of sorts for that club: They're getting an extra player who will be profitable for them, for free. The issue is that 8 out of 10 times, the deal collapses even if the players are on similar wages or the player arriving is on more wages. That's something I think needs fixing. If a club sees promise in a player they're being given, they're going to offer him a fair wage, and not field an unsuitable offer.

Edited September 21, 2023 by CTxCB

[SergeiG]

11 hours ago, DarJ said:

It’s a game so that is always going to be possible no matter what they do.

So if what you say is true, this post is just a lie and the AI will remain a moron.

[Dagenham_Dave]

34 minutes ago, SergeiG said:

So if what you say is true, this post is just a lie and the AI will remain a moron.

Wouldn't matter if they fixed it, you'd just find something else to moan about anyway. Seriously, I've no idea why you continue to play this game. 

[DominicForza]

On 19/09/2023 at 12:18, Grez said:

There's always a lot of focus on big headline features, but it's these core-gameplay improvements that actually make or break the football manager experience.

Absolutely.

 

IF implemented well it'd make a HUGE difference.

 

I'm struck by the irony after years (over a decade) of pining for J-League my immediate reaction to news of J-League being in the game isnt "great" or even "finally," it's "what about Saudi Pro League?"   Sigh, never satisfied.  

[CTxCB]

4 hours ago, DominicForza said:

Absolutely.

 

IF implemented well it'd make a HUGE difference.

 

I'm struck by the irony after years (over a decade) of pining for J-League my immediate reaction to news of J-League being in the game isnt "great" or even "finally," it's "what about Saudi Pro League?"   Sigh, never satisfied.  

I'm still confused why the San Marino league isn't included in the game, even unlicensed (although licensing it would probably be incredibly cheap), seeing as so many people regularly do a "San Marino Challenge" in FM. Having an official database would make that more viable.

[XaW]

On 19/09/2023 at 18:18, Grez said:

but it's these core-gameplay improvements that actually make or break the football manager experience.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if FM24 had dropped with 0 new "features", but only a focus on improving the current ones, or perhaps expanding, I would be very happy. And things like this are exactly what I've been wanting for years now. Most long term saves becomes easier and easier prior to this, as the user will be the only one with a balanced squad in the end, so it's just a matter of time before you win. The changes made now, really seem like they will make the squads more balanced, and that the wonderkid-factories people set up will be much harder since the players will be fought harder over.

[DominicForza]

17 hours ago, XaW said:

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if FM24 had dropped with 0 new "features", but only a focus on improving the current ones, or perhaps expanding, I would be very happy. And things like this are exactly what I've been wanting for years now. Most long term saves becomes easier and easier prior to this, as the user will be the only one with a balanced squad in the end, so it's just a matter of time before you win. The changes made now, really seem like they will make the squads more balanced, and that the wonderkid-factories people set up will be much harder since the players will be fought harder over.

Agreed.  

[DarJ]

32 minutes ago, SergeiG said:

So if what you say is true, this post is just a lie and the AI will remain a moron.

What I'm saying is that it is a game after all so it's never going to be 1 to 1 with reality plus you have to consider the fun element. Being stuck in one league forever because of reality is not fun but the idea of taking a tier 10 team to the Premier League and winning the champion's league is fun. No one will buy the game if it was 100% realistic we would be better of getting a coaching licence and managing IRL. 

[SergeiG]

13 hours ago, DarJ said:

What I'm saying is that it is a game after all so it's never going to be 1 to 1 with reality plus you have to consider the fun element. Being stuck in one league forever because of reality is not fun but the idea of taking a tier 10 team to the Premier League and winning the champion's league is fun. No one will buy the game if it was 100% realistic we would be better of getting a coaching licence and managing IRL. 

I dont think the game should reflect the real word 1 to 1 but the AI's decisions in the market right now feel like a cheat. I can give you a good example for that.

I am playing as Salford now and I got promoted to the PL and after some years of buying cheap youngsters for development I got an excellent team(lost the 1st table spot by losing my last game of the season but ill be champion soon I believe).

A player named Callum Morton was with me from the start(league 2) and he improved with the club as we claimed the leagues but he is not a top PL player, he is good but it was a time to replace him as he was about 28-29 YO already and I basically had 4 young strikers who was on his level and some better than him so I tried selling him. I could have got about 25 mil. Pounds for him, which is good, then comes Benfica and offer to exchange him for one of her 19 YO players who was better than Morton and had some potential left in him to develop farther so I agreed for sure. After one season they put Morton on the transfer list and got about 8-9 mil pounds for him, while the player I got from them, in 2 seasons became my best player currently and still got some development room left in him and Manchester City tried to steal him from me for about 150 mil Pounds(some of it in add-ons) a year before and I refused. 

So basically, Benfica gave up a player who is now worth more than 100 mil. Pounds for some player they sold for less than 10 just one season later.

[maxy]

Which clubs will have sugar daddy?

[KillYourIdols]

On 23/09/2023 at 22:59, SergeiG said:

I dont think the game should reflect the real word 1 to 1 but the AI's decisions in the market right now feel like a cheat. I can give you a good example for that.

I am playing as Salford now and I got promoted to the PL and after some years of buying cheap youngsters for development I got an excellent team(lost the 1st table spot by losing my last game of the season but ill be champion soon I believe).

A player named Callum Morton was with me from the start(league 2) and he improved with the club as we claimed the leagues but he is not a top PL player, he is good but it was a time to replace him as he was about 28-29 YO already and I basically had 4 young strikers who was on his level and some better than him so I tried selling him. I could have got about 25 mil. Pounds for him, which is good, then comes Benfica and offer to exchange him for one of her 19 YO players who was better than Morton and had some potential left in him to develop farther so I agreed for sure. After one season they put Morton on the transfer list and got about 8-9 mil pounds for him, while the player I got from them, in 2 seasons became my best player currently and still got some development room left in him and Manchester City tried to steal him from me for about 150 mil Pounds(some of it in add-ons) a year before and I refused. 

So basically, Benfica gave up a player who is now worth more than 100 mil. Pounds for some player they sold for less than 10 just one season later.

It doesnt seemingly happen often enough IMO to be a massive issue (AI making Stupid counter-offers, well, that's another thing) Maybe the club/Director of Football/whoever has a low rating for Predicting Potential Ability?

Lets face it, Chelsea sold Salah for 15 Million Euros and De Bruyne for 22 million, Not their best bit of Business, but these things happen.

[TioPatinhax]

step into the right direction here, happy to see it

[Alejandro_FM]

There's something in this particular blog that has not been discussed as much and that is the variability in income. I think many will agree that a primary factor of league strength is the size of their TV deal and how it's distributed among the teams in the division. 

There are a couple of sentences there that say, verbatim: 

"... Now, there’s greater fluctuation in the income your club receives, thereby creating more dynamism and intrigue in every career.

Indeed, you’ll now see that we’ve included fixed-length TV deals. The news items indicating these show changes in a deal’s value and what percentage effect that has on the competition prize money for the seasons the new agreement covers. " 

Does that mean that we'll see new TV deals for leagues that could change their fortunes and stature? For example, could Serie A at some point in a save get a massive TV deal and surpass the Premier League? 

If that's possible, that's massive for long term saves. I am not opining on whether it's realistic, btw, just saying it could make for very interesting future game worlds...  

[DarJ]

2 hours ago, Alejandro_FM said:

For example, could Serie A at some point in a save get a massive TV deal and surpass the Premier League? 

Theoretically yes because the TV deals are now fix for a certain period of time (in the screen shot they included I think it was 3 years) so when it expires the offer you get can go up or down. 

[DMaster2]

15 ore fa, Alejandro_FM ha scritto:

There's something in this particular blog that has not been discussed as much and that is the variability in income. I think many will agree that a primary factor of league strength is the size of their TV deal and how it's distributed among the teams in the division. 

There are a couple of sentences there that say, verbatim: 

"... Now, there’s greater fluctuation in the income your club receives, thereby creating more dynamism and intrigue in every career.

Indeed, you’ll now see that we’ve included fixed-length TV deals. The news items indicating these show changes in a deal’s value and what percentage effect that has on the competition prize money for the seasons the new agreement covers. " 

Does that mean that we'll see new TV deals for leagues that could change their fortunes and stature? For example, could Serie A at some point in a save get a massive TV deal and surpass the Premier League? 

If that's possible, that's massive for long term saves. I am not opining on whether it's realistic, btw, just saying it could make for very interesting future game worlds...  

It's absolutely realistic, just look at the Saudi league.

[Ruanba2]

Hello all,

Do we know if this new AI is also affecting to the B team and the academy???

B team -> keep 11x2 players after several seasons and young teams with tallents.

Academy-> ( apart from the youth income) make transfers for youth tallents.

Thanks!!!!

[DP]

Will this mean some ding dong title battles between me and a competent AI 15/20 years in the future?

I would love that. At the moment when you pull away from a rival - or perhaps end up at a big club in the future and win a league, it becomes very difficult to actually lose the league. This is reflected when you look at the league table and see the side in 2nd has lost double digit matches. Fingers crossed the top teams stay as top teams and give you more competition at the top of the league. 

Edited October 4, 2023 by DP

[Ruanba2]

En 1/10/2023 a las 17:20, Ruanba2 dijo:

Hello all,

Do we know if this new AI is also affecting to the B team and the academy???

B team -> keep 11x2 players after several seasons and young teams with tallents.

Academy-> ( apart from the youth income) make transfers for youth tallents.

Thanks!!!!

Do we know something for this topic???

[whatsupdoc]

On 20/09/2023 at 01:02, Jimmy Wong said:

Our continued drive to mirror developments in the real footballing world make Football Manager 2024 the most complete edition in the series yet. 

Two areas where we’ve worked extensively that powerfully reflect this are recruitment and finance.

On the recruitment front, we’ve significantly improved the decision-making and team selection capabilities of AI managers. You’ll also see that your game world better reflects the current trends of the real-life transfer market.

It’s not just recruitment that’s been made smarter, though.

This is not reflected in what I'm playing. AI transfers and squad building is very poor: 

High cost unnecessary replacements for positions with world class players... 

Having the AI manage your 21 and 18s setup leads to teams with 4-5 players...

[ChrisNUFC]

AI Squad building is still very poor. Head of Youth don’t recruit good prospects for the u18s. Even lower down the leagues clubs aren’t taking on higher reputation academy players released. 
 

It feels like the AI is still too aware that it’s a game and focuses too much on increasing CA XI then actual squad building and players who fit the manager and/club’s style. 

Even in the most basic sense of resting/rotating players when a team has 2-4 games in two weeks feels ‘off’. Perhaps the weight or the data value of Natural Fitness is too high for this. 

[Mars_Blackmon]

This aged like milk.

 

Even finances are still poor as you can finesse your way of spending nearly a billion dollars in transfer fees if you want too and have the debt wiped clean in the following years.

Edited November 7, 2023 by Mars_Blackmon

[Freakiie]

You can finesse your way into spending a billion in real life as well, look at Chelsea.

Honestly, for me it's a mixed bag so far. I've holidayed until 2032 so far and for example Bayern is doing pretty well. They have their core team and are adding in mostly hot prospects as back ups, as a result they have a relatively young, but still balanced squad. It's obviously not flawless, as their depth for a 3 CD line up is very thin (then again, RL Bayern would like a word) and they did just throw a lot of money at a Turkish talent who now wants to leave as they're barely playing him, but overall this looks like a much better squad than what I've seen in previous years.

On the other hand, looking at a Liverpool, they have a massive squad even for PL standards. As a result they're loaning out a ton of expensive players as they simply are not getting any play time, making those transfers a massive waste of money. Admittedly, their overall squad honestly is pretty good as well and again, they do have a lot of hot prospects on the bench, but they are clearly throwing too much money at back up players that due to their fees and ability demand a squad status that guarantees them play time but they barely play and thus get offloaded again very quickly, only for the AI to then think they need to replace these guys and thus maintaining their bloated squad.

I feel like the AIs eagerness to buy and sell simply needs to be toned down a bit. (Insert people crying in horror about their inability to offload deadwood) As it stands, it feels like the AI is very happy to sell when they receive what they consider a fair price, regardless of whether there is a real need to sell. So, they get a 30m offer for their back up CD, look at it and go "Fair price, sure!". They then look at the squad, realise they're missing a back up CD, so they go onto the market with their 30m and buy a new back up that's roughly at the same level as their previous back up CD and in the end you're basically back where you started. Realistically, if you have a back up CD that's happy, he fits your system, knows how you play, why would you sell him for his value when you don't have an alternative already at the club?

At the same time the AI feels overly eager to spend their entire budget, because they have it so lets go for it (which arguably ties in to FM finances in general where there tends to be more money in the first place), so they buy 3 back up players that look like they might be useful, but you're a PL club so you had €150m budget, so you now have a bunch of players that cost €50m each that due to the price and their reputation are expecting to see play time, but the AI treats them as emergency back ups in case they need a 4th striker in their 1 striker set up.

So, there is definitely some improvements (at least compared to FM22 which is the last version I played), but some of the quirks the AI has need further looking at, especially their urge to replace players that never played in the first place.

[arthurbf10]

I was so excited for this feature and it's... just not a thing at all. Lesson learned I guess, that was the first and last time I preorder