If your transfer offer for a player is accepted then you will be able to start negotiating a contract with him in your news inbox. Clicking View Offer in the bottom left corner will take you to the main Contract Offer screen where further useful information related to the negotiations is available and, depending on your screen resolution, it is easier to view all of the active contract terms.
To offer a contract renewal to one of your current players you can select the Contract Offer section of his Contract screen.
The top of the Contract Offer screen show’s dialogue from the player’s agent, or the player himself if he does not have an agent. Underneath this you can make your contract offer by setting and adjusting various terms.
Before you begin negotiations though, it is advisable to familiarise yourself with the panels of the right which provide details of the agent and other useful information.
The Agent
The agent’s relationship with you will have a bearing on how easy the discussions are. If you have failed in negotiations with the agent before, either when trying to sign players or when renewing contracts, then you may be disliked by him and will need to be more generous with your contract offer, particularly the agent fee.
The agent’s personality will also affect negotiations. There are three main determinants of an agent’s personality. These are:
Patience – this affects how quickly an agent gets frustrated by negotiations. With a patient agent you can afford to take more time by making smaller changes when increasing terms with each offer. With impatient agents you will need to make larger adjustments that more closely match the stated demands in order to avoid failure of negotiations and therefore developing a bad relationship with the agent. You can expect the maximum number of agent offers possible before this occurs to vary from approximately two to ten depending on the agent’s patience.
Personal gain – this affects how much importance an agent places on the agent fee. With an agent who focuses on personal gain you will need to offer a higher agent fee. You may, however, be able to offer less favourable terms for the player if the agent is not also focused on client gain.
Client gain – this affects how much importance an agent places on the player’s wage and other terms for the player. With an agent who focuses on client gain you will need to offer better terms for the player. You may, however, be able to offer a lower agent fee if the agent is not also focused on personal gain.
The description of the agent provides you with clues to the agent’s personality, and will make reference to one or more of the three aspects explained above.
Other Information
The Information panel includes the following details that can also help you during negotiations:
Transfer Budget Remaining – the amount of your transfer budget for the current year that you have left to spend before the costs of signing the player are deducted. The Transfer Budget Cost will need to be less than this. You can adjust your transfer budget by clicking Budget Adjustment and using the slider to reduce your wage budget, as long as you have enough spare wage budget to do this.
Transfer Budget Cost – the amount that will be deducted from your transfer budget for the current year if you sign the player with the contract terms currently set. This includes any current year transfer fees already agreed with the player’s current club when negotiating the transfer, along with the full agent fee and the proportion of the loyalty bonus allocated to the current year as determined according to the contract length.
Future Budget Costs – the amount that will be deducted from your transfer budgets in future years if you sign the player with the contract terms currently set. This includes any future year transfer fees already agreed with the player’s current club when negotiating the transfer, along with the proportion of the loyalty bonus allocated to the current year as determined according to the contract length.
You may need to limit how much you offer for the loyalty bonus and agent fee in order to afford the player if your transfer budget is low, or perhaps in order to save enough transfer budget for any other targets. Increasing the contract length, increasing the loyalty bonus and decreasing the agent fee will allocate more of the cost to future budgets and so may help you to afford the player if your budget is tight.
Squad Status Interest – how interested the player is in signing with the currently selected Squad Status. If a player is less willing to sign with the squad status you wish to offer him then negotiations may be difficult unless you increase the squad status. On the other hand, if he is happy to sign with a lower squad status then you should consider offering this as it can help keep his demands low.
Max Wage – the maximum wage that your board will allow you to offer a player with the currently selected squad status. You can increase this maximum by clicking Budget Adjustment and using the slider to reduce your transfer budget, as long as you have enough spare transfer budget to do this.
Average Wage – the average wage of players at your club with the currently selected squad status. This information can help you to offer a wage in line with those of your other players, therefore making it easier to maintain a solid wage structure.
Wage Budget Contribution – the amount that will be included in your Wage Total (along with the wage contributions of all your other players) if you sign the player with the contract terms currently set. (Note that if this does not update automatically when changing the Wage then you may need to adjust another term, which you can then adjust back again). This includes the Wage and also some bonuses. It is the difference between this amount and the Current Wage Contribution that determines what amount will be added to (or deducted from) your Wage Total if the player is signed on the contract terms currently set. This should be assessed against your Wage Budget (less Wage Total) to determine whether signing the player would take you over budget or not. You should also take into account the effects on your wage spending of any other signings you intend to make and any players you intend to sell, as well as your wage structure.
Current Wage Contribution – the amount that the player’s current wage already contributes to your Wage Total.
Wage Budget – your total wage budget before signing the player. You can adjust your wage budget by clicking Budget Adjustment and using the slider to reduce your transfer budget, as long as you have enough spare transfer budget to do this.
Wage Total – your current total spending on wages before signing the player.
Highest Earner Clauses – this appears if the terms currently set will make the player your club’s highest earner. It informs you of the number of players whose wages will increase to match those of this player due to them having the match highest earner clause in their contracts. Above this, the current Highest Wage At Club is shown for your reference.
Making a Contract Offer
To start negotiations the agent (or player) will usually present a set of terms as his initial demands. These represent the best possible terms he believes can be agreed, and so you should generally start by offering lesser terms and leaving room to negotiate upwards.
Some agents may instead request that you make the first offer, in which case you will have to present terms that you believe to be appropriate for the player and your wage structure. If this is the case then for guidance you can use the wage demands shown in the player’s scout report and also the player’s existing contract, which you can view by selecting the Existing Contract tab. You should offer lesser terms than you expect the agent will want in order to leave room to negotiate. Generally though, these terms should be at least as good as those in the player’s existing contract, unless he is an ageing player nearing the end of his career.
If the player has attracted interest from other clubs, in which case the agent will mention this at the start of negotiations, then you may want to offer more favourable terms in order to secure his signature, closer to what is demanded by the agent or perhaps even more.
You should also take account of the agent’s personality when making your first offer.
After setting the terms of your offer you will need to click the Suggest Terms button to view the agent’s response. Any adjustments you make in subsequent offers should be based on the reaction of the agent in the dialogue box, his new demands and the information you have on the agent’s personality.
You should remain aware of your wage structure during negotiations and, if necessary and possible, offer more for the loyalty bonus, agent fee and for bonuses and clauses in order to keep the wage at an appropriate amount. If it is not possible to keep the offered wage within your wage structure then you will have to consider whether it is worth breaking the wage structure for the player or whether to end the negotiations by clicking the Walk Away button.
Locking Terms
If you are not willing to increase a particular term any further then you can lock it at the currently set value by clicking on the padlock icon next to the term to make it non-negotiable. For example, if the agent has demanded a wage that would break your wage structure or is above the maximum you are allowed to offer then you can lock it and increase other terms instead. If you reach a stage in negotiations where you no longer wish or can no longer afford to offer better terms then you may want to click the Negotiable button, which will then change to mark the offer as Non-Negotiable. However, you should be careful if doing this as it can damage your relationship with the agent if the offer is rejected.
Maintaining Agent Relationships
Should contract negotiations breakdown then you are likely to have to wait at least two weeks before being able to restart talks. Your relationship with the agent may also be damaged, in which case you may appear on the disliked people shown on his Profile screen. By using terms wisely you can generally remain successful in negotiations and so maintain good relationships with agents. This is important as it will allow you more leverage when negotiating contracts with those agents in the future for both new signings and your existing players.