FM 2013 Finances Guide: How to keep the balance in black

Keeping the club finances in good health is a key factor in Football Manager 2013, that will give you stability and, sooner or later, enough money to buy the players that you need. This piece on FM 2013 finances is not what I would normally call a guide, it’s more of a collection of hints and tips based on my experience in the game. I’ll try to keep it short and simple but we’ll discuss more aspects in the comments if you want to.

1. Transfers

Buying and selling players is probably the component with the most impact on finances, apart from staff contracts. The first tip is quite obvious: buy for less, sell for more. I know, it’s easier said than done, but when considering whether to buy a player or not, you should think about his re-sale value and not only about his attributes and what he could do for your team on the pitch. So I have a couple of suggestions:

• Buy young players, generally under 25 or at most 27. You should be able to re-sell these for a profit in most cases.
• When planning to sell a player, don’t let him rot in the reserves, that will decrease his market value. Play him as much as you can or, if not possible, send him out on loan.

Another thing you should consider when buying players is that you should always try to negotiate. Sometimes clubs ask for more but if you negotiate you will often be able to cut some of the initial asking price. Moreover, you should always try to take out the future percentage clauses when buying players, most times you will be able to do that if you negotiate.

On the other hand, you should always try to add future percentage clauses when selling, that’s money that might come handy in the future.

2. Contracts

The same rule applies to player and staff contracts: always try to negotiate. Most times you will be able to put pen to paper on a significantly reduced wage compared to a player’s initial demands.

You should also pay attention to contract clauses when negotiating with a player, especially those concerning his wages. Future wage increases should be avoided when possible, you can try offering a more significant loyalty bonus or a larger agent fee to take such clauses out of a contract.

3. Other tips and tricks

Arranging a good number of pre-season friendlies is good for your squad but it can also be good for your finances. If you manage a club with a large fanbase the best idea is to arrange friendlies at home, those should produce a good amount of money even if you have to pay fees to your opponents. If you don’t manage such a fortunate club then away friendlies, especially on other continents, should give you a decent amount of money in fees.

Also, if you manage a club with a high enough profile, you should seek feeder clubs in Asia or North America. Those deals involve fairly high yearly fees toward the feeder clubs but those deals will significantly improve your income from merchandising.

Last but not least, I’d like to remind you of Darren’s «Youth to Gold» system that he applied in FM 2011, that should still work like a charm in any version of Football Manager. A few tips from Darren’s old post:

• Every season look for a minimum of two under 21′s for a maximum transfer fee of £5 million. These players should have the potential to be worth £8 million plus within 6 years.
• When you receive an offer too good to refuse, accept it. Other than that try to sell these players when they reach their peak, after about 6-8 seasons or before.
• Using this cycle every single season, will make you rich in the long run. After 6 seasons in game, you should be making a minimum of £15 million every season from transfers but probably more.
• Because you are bringing in new youth every season, there should always be someone waiting to take over from the key players you sell. Therefore no loss of quality.

That’s about all, feel free to ask questions and post your suggestions in the comments.