How do you get the best free agents?

[arsenalboy]

I get overwhelmed by the huge list, so give up easily. Shows how dependent on Value I am . What kind of attributes/search filters do you use?

[gregt or smokey]

a good idea is to go to "international" in the views, it gives you the caps, youth caps, goals and youth goals. Im sure you would still miss some players but you will find plenty

[Brian Shanahan]

Also it is usually also a good idea to filter out players over the age of 32 (or lower if you're a big club trawling).

What I try to do with bosmans is check around a few months before (November or early December). That will allow me to scout around and cherry pick the 3 or 4 players I need (if the quality is available).

[mackemforever]

My method takes a bit longer to set up than most but works brilliantly.

What I do is as follows:

1) Decide what position I am looking for.

2) Make a list of the attributes that I think are key for that position.

3) Go on player search and filter for players in the position, then create a custom view which has all the attributes I view as key, along with the players age.

4) Look through the list and you can quite quickly create a shortlist of players who stand out and have generally OK attributes.

5) Go through the shortlist in more detail to cut out any players who appeared to be good at first glance but are not good enough.

As I said, it takes a little bit of time to set up but you do find some great players.

If you check out my manager story, here, you will see that with this method you can find free transfers who are way better than the rest of your league and it can make the game quite easy!

[lutontown1991]

I see what players contracts are expiring and scout the ones that look good then offer contract. Simples

[Thedore]

I'll assume that you are a small club as you are looking for frees. As such, you can get away with less well rounded players than the bigger clubs. So the simple thing to do is to filter for position, then just sort the list using the key attribute for that position.

[Montanaro]

Yeah as others said, start looking early before other teams offer contracts. Search for under 32s (even as smaller teams, older players don't provide much, and can't be sold for profit). Pick out areas that your team needs improving and what type of player you are looking for (ie a good passing/good heading DC). Search for those stats. However, don't be afraid to take a player with stats in the 12-14s if that player has all his stats over 10 (well rounded players tend to be the best)

So for instance, you have a choice between a DC X with 17 heading, 16 marking and 17 tackling, and DC Y with 14 heading, 13 marking, and 15 tackling, but Y has all mental and physical stats over 10, go for Y, he will be more dependable. I have made the mistake of going with the guys with the flashy key stats and have been burned for it.

[tottivillarossi]

At the end of every season you'll get a message in your inbox saying "Clubs in England release players", I use that, then just check all of the players released by Prem clubs. You'd be amazed at some of the deals. I got Marc Wilson for free at Scunthorpe, six months later I sold him for £1million, which is an incredible sum of money to such a poor team.