Transfers, loans & contracts

Finding players in the Transfer centre

Player search in the career office opens the Transfer centre. The Players tab searches the known market, Transfers concentrates on players being offered for sale, and Loans helps find temporary recruits. Select a footballer to open his profile.

The player list combines identity, position, age when known, performance information, club and valuation. Your club's knowledge matters: a player may be absent from the list, described broadly or shown with estimated skill ranges. A data licence and a direct scout report provide different ways to improve that picture.

Only interested

Concentrate on players for whom a move to your club is currently plausible. Interest is an assessment, not an agreement.

Only affordable

Narrow the search to realistic financial targets. Final terms still have to pass the club's current financial checks.

Only scouted

Limit the search to players in your club's scouting picture.

Only human players

Find footballers attached to human participants in a shared career.

Former players

Follow footballers previously connected to your career.

Filters adds name, position, side, age and football or financial limits. Combine them to describe the actual vacancy. Hold an arrow to step through a long range. Filters work with known information, so a strict requirement can exclude an uncertain prospect even if he might turn out to fit. Reduce the filters and commission a report when you need more evidence.

The Staff, Scouting and Data tabs are explained in Staff, scouting & information. History records completed movements and distinguishes transfers, loans, loan returns, purchases after loans and departures.

How clubs build a recruitment picture

Clubs assess actual positional needs and the likely first-team role of a target. Computer clubs also search, observe, negotiate and change their plans as the season develops. A listed player, free agent or familiar opponent can attract attention, but every interest does not become a bid.

Your own recruitment should combine football fit with evidence. Use the Scouting and Data tabs to improve uncertain profiles, then compare the target with players who fill the same role and side. A promising headline, an attractive estimated value and genuine readiness for your first eleven are different things.

How a club evaluates a target

When a player is analysed, the buying club considers what its squad would look like with him included. It asks whether he would enter the first eleven, strengthen the substitutes, provide rotation or remain too far from the team. Natural position and side matter because the player has to displace or support someone in a real role.

The transfer screen translates that judgement into clear football language: a top transfer, a potentially valuable player, a useful addition, a realistic move or a proposal with doubts. This is not a guarantee of success. It is the club’s view of the sporting fit before wages and the player’s own decision are settled.

A footballer can also be too strong for the proposed context. A star may see no suitable sporting step in joining a far smaller club, even when the money exists. Conversely, a lower-league side can offer a young or unattached human player an important first route into senior football.

What shapes player value

Value combines current football level, potential and the context in which the player is owned. A talented young player can be valuable before he becomes a regular because the future is part of what the buying club receives. An established performer at a strong club and league carries a different market standing from an equally skilled free agent.

Age matters increasingly after a player moves beyond his prime development years. This does not make an older player ineffective. It recognises that the buying club is purchasing fewer future seasons and a greater risk of decline. Contract situation also changes the practical price: an out-of-contract footballer can move without a transfer fee, though wages and interest still need agreement.

For a human-controlled footballer, sustained match performance contributes to the market’s judgement. A player who repeatedly performs above the level suggested by his original profile can build a stronger career value and attract clubs that would not have considered him at the start.

Why a player is — or is not — interested

A player weighs the new club against his present situation. Club and league reputation describe the sporting level. The expected place in the squad determines whether he sees first-team football, rotation or the edge of the group. The wage must reflect his quality, ambition and the step being requested.

An overseas move adds another question. Adaptable players are more comfortable changing football cultures. Others may require a stronger financial reason to leave familiar surroundings. Loyalty can encourage a longer commitment, while financial ambition raises wage expectations. Older players may value contract security differently from players entering their peak years.

Interest is therefore allowed to change. Promotion, relegation, a run of strong results, an expiring contract, a crowded position or the player’s own improved standing can make a previously impossible move realistic — or close a route that once looked open.

Buying a contracted player: agree with the club first

1. Open the target's profile and Transfer view. Check the known skills, age, natural role, contract, estimated value and the sporting assessment.
2. Open the club talks. Read any public asking price and your club's assessment of a likely agreement. Enter the fee you wish to offer.
3. Submit offer. The selling club considers it over career time. Return to the office and advance the days, while keeping an eye on the transfer-window deadline.
4. Review the reply. An accepted bid allows personal talks. A counteroffer can be accepted or answered with an improved offer. A rejection may leave you needing a different target or different terms.
5. Choose Discuss player terms. A fee agreement gives permission to negotiate with the footballer. It does not yet put him in your squad.

A waiting reply remains a current item even when the estimated reply day has passed. Awaiting reply means the club has not answered yet. An estimate of response time is different from the deadline for accepting an actual counteroffer or agreement.

You can Withdraw offer or close concluded talks. The club may end a negotiation if the player's situation changes. A player already moved permanently this season, a recently signed player or a computer club's only goalkeeper can be unavailable for a specific football reason, even if you have enough cash.

Agreeing personal terms and completing the signing

Once the clubs agree, review the player's Monthly salary, Signing bonus, Contract length and Sporting perspective. The salary is recurring. The transfer fee and signing bonus need money now. A free agent needs no transfer fee, but still needs an acceptable contract and a valid registration.

The player can accept, counter or reject. Read the reason: a low salary, small bonus, unsuitable length or doubtful playing prospects are different obstacles. The negotiation round indicator shows that talks are limited. Repeated failed approaches can leave the player unwilling to reopen discussions for a while.

Your club's assessment helps judge an offer, but its confidence depends on available knowledge. It is advice, not a promise. A generous salary can also create a new top earner or push regular costs above recurring income, even if the immediate fee is affordable.

When agreement is reached, review the final package and choose Complete signing. The move still requires squad space, available funds, eligibility and an open window or a valid exception. A successful signing moves the footballer, records the fee and starts the agreed wage. The history keeps his earlier clubs and career record.

Renewals and wage discussions

The Contract view shows the current monthly salary and remaining seasons. The ctr warning draws attention to the final part of a contract or an agreement that has expired. Open the profile rather than relying on the abbreviation alone.

Use Extend contract or the available salary action to discuss new terms with one of your players. Review the requested wage, length and any loyalty bonus, submit your terms and respond to the counteroffer. Only the final confirmed agreement replaces the current contract. Abandoning or failing the talks leaves the existing terms in place.

Wage expectations depend on the footballer's standing, role, ambition and the club context. Loyalty, age, the security of the proposed term and the sporting attraction of the club also matter. A newly signed agreement is not immediately undone just because an older general wage estimate was higher, although later improvement can create a fresh request.

Human footballers and managers receive their own contract proposals through the offers and news. Choose Accept offer, Negotiate terms or Decline offer. A negotiated agreement still needs Sign contract. The adviser and the round counter help you assess a counterproposal. A playing contract and a managerial contract describe different jobs.

Academy promotion uses a first professional contract. Until the agreement is signed, a contractless academy player remains in the youth group without a current professional salary. See Offering a first professional contract.

Deciding whether your players are for sale

Open one of your players' Transfer views and choose the club stance. This is a manager's decision, separate from the player's market value.

Indicative asking price can track market value or use a custom expectation. The slider runs from a free transfer to 300% of market value. A zero fee invites a free transfer, it does not release the player. A high expectation can make agreement more difficult.

Choose Confirm decision to publish the stance. The price is an opening expectation. It does not guarantee a buyer, force acceptance of a matching bid or change the player's underlying ability. A listed footballer can carry the Lst marker in squad and market lists.

Incoming bids, offers and deadlines

Offers in the office brings together personal contracts, bids for your players, loans, purchase options and club replies. The count shows unread items relative to the listed total. A player-manager can have a personal playing decision and a club-selling decision at the same time, so check the type and parties involved.

Open the item to inspect the player, club, amount and deadline. Decide later leaves the current decision for another day. Reject offer turns it down. Accept offer agrees your part of the proposal. If a human footballer still has to choose, the club's acceptance goes on to that player instead of deciding his career for him.

Several clubs can bid for the same player. Compare them before accepting. A seller's asking price never sells a player by itself. Equally, a player whose contract has ended does not remain under the same control as a player on a long current agreement.

The office warns about decisions due today. Newly issued registration offers can expire at the transfer-window close even when their normal lifetime would be longer. Complete the necessary club and player decisions before the deadline. Waiting club replies remain visible, while already answered offers have their own acceptance deadlines.

Releasing a player

Sack or the available release action in the contract view ends the player's relationship with the club. Read the quoted settlement and confirm only if you want the player to leave. A remaining contract normally requires compensation. An expired agreement can be ended without paying wages that are no longer owed.

The settlement is a real immediate club expense. Releasing a player also removes a squad member and makes him available elsewhere. It is not a temporary loan and does not reserve the right to bring him back for free.

Do not treat a release as an automatic way around transfer restrictions. A newly clubless player can still be affected by the current registration window and his competitive appearances earlier in the season.

Loaning a player out

A loan gives a footballer a temporary playing club while the parent club retains his contract. It can provide minutes to a developing player or help manage a crowded squad. Open the player's Loan action and choose Find loan club.

The interested-club list shows the planned role, appearance outlook, loan fee, salary share and any purchase option. Compare a first-team opportunity with rotation or a squad role rather than choosing only the highest fee. Select the destination and choose Propose loan.

The contract must run beyond the end of the current season. An active loan, an incompatible permanent offer, a closed loan window or a changed squad situation can prevent a proposal. A player-manager cannot leave his managed club on loan. A human footballer decides whether to accept his proposed temporary move.

Loans run to the season end. A fee is a payment for the loan itself. The borrowing club's Salary share is shown both as a percentage and as an amount, so you can see who pays how much. A loan does not change the player's agreed total salary merely because the two clubs divide its cost.

Borrowing players and purchase options

Use the Loans tab to find possible reinforcements and choose Ask about a loan where offered. The parent club can refuse, have an existing proposal or send full terms. Review the sporting role, fee and salary contribution before accepting.

A Purchase option states an agreed price for making the move permanent. It is an option, not an instruction to buy. When the decision is available, choose Exercise option or Let option expire. The player may still have a personal choice and the club must still be able to fund and register the move.

If no permanent purchase is completed, the footballer returns to his parent club at the end of the loan. The profile distinguishes his playing club from the club holding the contract, and the transfer history records both the loan and return.

Transfer windows and deadline day

The gear in the Transfer centre opens Transfer centre settings. You can use restricted windows or allow registrations throughout the season. The career's current settings are the authority. Older careers may still allow transfers all year.

The calendar shows opening and closing events, and news announces the opening, the final week and deadline day. National-team tournaments do not delay the club season-end window. The weeks are the career calendar, so use the calendar rather than imposing an external real-world deadline date.

Each window can be enabled or disabled and its weeks and activity adjusted. Activity from 100% to 1000% changes how actively clubs search the market, not whether your bid must be accepted. Loans follow transfer windows controls loan restrictions. Quieter transfer activity in the first season helps preserve complete starting squads while allowing your own business.

A closed window prevents registration, while scouting and planning can continue. The free-agent exception is separate: when enabled, it covers eligible unattached players who have been clubless since the close or have no competitive club appearances in the current season. League and club cups count. International appearances, friendlies and practice do not. An expiring contract or transfer-list status alone does not make someone an unattached exception.

Transfer-window changes apply to the current career and are also offered as defaults for future careers when saved successfully. The separate managerial rules on the Managers page belong to the career itself. See Coaching career rules.

When a move cannot go ahead

• The player has already moved this season. Another permanent club move normally waits for the next season. Starting another negotiation does not restore the move.
• The seller needs the player. A computer club may retain its only goalkeeper or a recent signing.
• The window is closed. Check the current career policy and any valid free-agent or loan exception.
• The finances do not work. Review the fee, immediate bonus, agreed salary and the club's continuing commitments together.
• The squad is full or circumstances changed. A rival deal, an active loan, changed contract or unavailable role can invalidate earlier terms.
• The player or club will not discuss terms now. Give the talks time rather than immediately repeating the same approach.

The explanation on the screen identifies the current reason. A refusal is not always a lack of money and adding to the fee does not solve a registration or squad problem.

Understanding player happiness

Happiness explains the relationship between player and club. Positive reasons include belonging to a top or improving team and enjoying good results. Negative reasons include lost self-confidence, frustration with team-mates, concern that the squad lacks quality, limited first-team opportunities or wages that no longer match status.

A player outside the eleven may accept the fight for his place, become disappointed, or eventually fail to understand why he is not a regular. The response depends on his level relative to the squad and how long the situation lasts. Playing time, team results, wages, team-mates and squad strength can all change the reason shown in his profile.

Contract length determines how soon unhappiness becomes part of a renewal or free-transfer decision. The squad screen shows unh specifically when the player believes his wage no longer matches his status. The detailed profile can reveal other causes.

Making your own move as a footballer

A single-player career receives offers from clubs and contract proposals from the present club. Check the country, league, wages, length, intended role and prospects before accepting. The Squad and club-information routes let you inspect the destination before returning to the offer.

You can also open a suitable computer-managed club's Team information and choose Offer my services. As a free agent this offers your availability. As a contracted footballer it expresses interest in joining, while leaving any necessary agreement with your present club to be resolved. Confirming interest does not sign a contract.

The club can keep you in mind, reject the sporting fit, lack funds, wait for a window or make an offer. Your interest can remain for 52 weeks, can be withdrawn and ends when you join another club. Open My transfer interest to follow current approaches. A message tells you when another approach is possible.

Use Discuss future for a loan request or Request a transfer for a permanent move. The coach considers your role, recent playing opportunities and the squad. An approved request creates permission to seek a move, not an immediate transfer. You still decide on offers. You can withdraw an open or accepted request, and there can be a waiting period before a fresh discussion.

When an eligible playing contract has expired, Leave club lets you become unattached. That gives freedom but removes your current place in a squad. A player-manager seeking another coaching job must use the Job market: a normal playing contract does not appoint him as the new club's manager.