Hey guys, I’m back with part 2 of my Football Manager financial guide. Let me start by saying thank you for the support and kind words, your comments from part 1 meant a lot. For anyone who hasn’t, please check part one of my financial guide…doing so will help in understanding part two..
OK, so part one covered all the basics. We looked at income, expenditure and a few other financial aspects. Then used my Newcastle save to analyze different ways of improving your clubs finances as well as secure the long term future. All fairly simple, well part two
isn’t such a walk in the park. While playing FM, I tend to succeed very quickly, but then see my club slowly decline below the level I have become accustomed to. This is partly down to finances and my owners getting sick of seeing red, but also poor squad management. Every season I expect to buy bigger and better players, understandable as my club keeps growing in stature. But after you’ve spent £15 million plus on one player, the price tags start to sore out of control. Before you know it, you are spending £60 million a year on just three players. Then as the seasons progress you lose track of which positions to buy for and just target the best players on the market. A few more years down the line and you’re stuck with an old squad, or lacking in particular departments, or even in so much debt the chairmen won’t offer £2 to buy a BLT sandwich from the cafeteria. Well today that stops!!
Part one of this financial guide was created to teach you the basics on how to save money and create stability. Part two is not only to make you rich, but also keep tabs on some much needed squad management. Over the past few weeks I have been working on something called the ‘youth to gold’ system. Before explaining my new system, we should establish a few ground rules. Firstly, this is not guaranteed to work and will come down to your skills as a scout and youth developer. Secondly, this system takes a lot of time and patience to implement, so don’t expect any easy answers. Last of all, you must have completed the following stages before trying to implement my ‘youth to gold’ system.
- Stage 1: Survive and build — every club starts somewhere, whether it be the bottom division, a relegation threatened Premier League side or the best club in England. You must survive the early years, doing whatever is necessary to gain success and move forward. Even if this means ignoring your finances. You must buy the required players to move up the table and gain that all important European status.
- Stage 2: Prepare for the future — You should hopefully be moving up the table/leagues quickly. You must start to build a better future. This means getting the youth and training facilities upgraded ASAP. Also get the best possible backroom staff. Amazing coaches to train your squad and incredible scouts to find talented players are vital. Without these the system fails.
- Stage 3: Stabilize and secure — When you have achieved European qualification and created a successful squad, we need to stabilize. This means following part one of this financial guide. Correct your wage budget, offload the over paid members and get your squad size down to around 26 players. All the time upgrading your facilities and finding the best coaches/scouts available.
- Stage 4: Implement my ‘youth to gold’ system — When you have achieved Champions League status, your squad should be at a very high level. This means you shouldn’t need to spend inflated prices for players over the age of 24. This is the perfect time to try my new system.
What is the ‘youth to gold’ system?
Basically, its like playing chess. You need to assess the best time to sacrifice your top players. This means accepting big transfer offers for the greater good, like sacrificing your queen for check mate. Thomas Levin (FM Pundit) has this down to a tee within his Udinese save. However my ‘youth to gold’ system is on a much bigger scale. We will use pre-defined selling dates for each player to plan the clubs future. By planning a big players departure, we can sign a cheaper wonderkid with enough time to develop him as a replacement…this is as opposed to panic buying when the likes of Afellay get too old, or are ready to be sold. On an even better note, because we’ve signed the wonderkid replacement young, he should hopefully be cheap. This will lead to a big profit when the wonderkid is finally sold. Hopefully you understand me so far and see a cycle developing.
Guidelines to follow
I know this system could get messy and disorganised, but below are the pointers you should follow and be strict with. If the system is to work, we must be buying youth at the right age, time and price. For the purpose of these guidelines, we’ll say I’m wanting to plan for the sale of Afellay and the purchase of his replacement.
- I should buy players under the age of 22, but preferably around the ages of 16-18.
- Each players transfer should not exceed £7 million, and players should have a potential sell on value of at least double that in six years time.
- I should plan for the new wonderkid to replace Afellay when he reaches 27-30 years old. This means Afellay will be around peak age and still worth a lot, but we won’t be missing more than two of his best years.
- Afellay must still have two years running on his contract during the year I want to sell. This will avoid low transfer offers.
- The new wonderkid should be bought at least three years before Afellay’s departure. This is so I have time to develop him and nurture the youngster into Afellay’s role.
You need to follow these guidelines for every player. It will take a while to see the financial benefits, but they should be great. If you sign a 17 year old for £3 million, then develop him into a top class player. By the time he departs at 27-29 years old you could sell him for a massive profit. If you have followed the system correctly, his replacement will have been purchased at least three years ago and be ready to walk into the limelight without damaging the squads quality. You’ll need a great eye for talent and the correct facilities/staff, but the youth to gold system will work if approached correctly.
Prototype — the testing begins with Newcastle
That’s right friends, when my Newcastle game resumes, I will be testing the ‘youth to gold’ system. Below is my squad and you’ll notice various different age groups for various different positions. This is because I’ve been trying to build for the future already. The youth to gold system must be applied to every player. Therefore you’ll notice a ‘planned departure’ for every squad member. This is the year I intend on selling the player. Obviously certain circumstances could change the preferred year, but its a good estimate. You’ll also notice each departure is arranged for the players latter years (between 27-30 years old.)
| Name | Position | Age | Value | Planned departure (now in 2014) |
| Vincent Enyeama | GK | 31 | £5.75M | — |
| Gökhan Inler | DM, M (C) | 30 | £5.25M | 2015 |
| Steven Taylor | D (RC) | 28 | £6M | 2014 |
| José Enrique | D/WB (L) | 28 | £6.25M | 2015 |
| Ibrahim Afellay | M/AM (RLC) | 28 | £11.5M | 2016 |
| Martín Cáceres | SW, D (C) | 27 | £4.6M | 2015 |
| Sami Khedira | DM, M (C) | 27 | £5M | 2016 |
| Danny Guthrie | M (C) | 27 | £3.5M | 2015 |
| Danny Simpson | D (R) | 27 | £3.4M | 2015 |
| Nicolás Gaitán | M (L), AM (LC), ST | 26 | £8M | 2016 |
| Micah Richards | D (RC) | 26 | £5.5M | 2017 |
| Tim Krul | GK | 26 | £3.3M | — |
| Theo Walcott | AM (R), ST | 25 | £6.5M | 2018 |
| Alberto Paloschi | ST | 24 | £15M | 2017 |
| Kieran Gibbs | D/WB/M/AM (L) | 24 | £3.3M | 2018 |
| Gaël Kakuta | M/AM (RLC) | 23 | £3M | 2019 |
| Jack Rodwell | D (C), DM, M (C) | 23 | £7.75M | 2020 |
| Mateo Musacchio | SW, D (C) | 23 | £6.25M | 2020 |
| Danny Wilson | D (LC) | 22 | £26M | 2022 |
| Jack Wilshere | M/AM (RLC) | 22 | £6.5M | 2021 |
| Dudu | M (R), AM (RC), ST | 22 | £6M | 2014 |
| Sergio Araujo | ST | 22 | £7.25M | 2015 |
| Yaya Sanogo | ST | 21 | £8.5M | 2022 |
| Marco Verratti | M/AM (C) | 21 | £4.6M | 2020 |
| Phil Clark | DM, M (LC) | 19 | £3.4M | 2023 |
| Marcos Pereyra | D (LC), WB (L) | 18 | £2.2M | 2023 |
| Marcelo Santos | ST | 18 | £2.3M | 2024 |
| Luis Hernández | M/AM (C), ST | 18 | £12.25M | 2024 |
| Peter Kalu | D (C), DM, M (C) | 17 | £4.5M | 2024 |
Based on the table above, I can work out when I need to be buying my replacements. ie Afellay leaves during 2016, but I’ve already got the incredible Hernandez waiting at the age of 18. He will be 20 when Afellay is sold and ready to takeover. Remember my three year rule, each youngster must be bought at least three years prior to a current squad member been sold. E.g. Kieran Gibbs is scheduled to leave during 2018, therefore I need to get his replacement during 2015 so the youngster has time to develop.
How could this effect finances?
Simple, if you get organised and plan your squad management you won’t be forced to buy older players at a huge price. Plus, by following my ‘youth to gold’ system you shouldn’t be paying more than £7 million per player…then you’ll be selling them on at a later date for double the original price. Obviously I can’t expect to just pay £7 million or under for every single player, but lets say I did. How would the transfer income and expenses look?? Lets fast forward to the year 2022. This should be around the time my first ‘youth to gold’ signings are eventually sold. Lets pretend three of these players are scheduled to leave Saint James Park, one originally bought for £2m, another for £4m and the final player for £6m. Remember these players are aimed to sell for double their cost, which means an overall transfer income of £24 million. Now lets say we need to buy three new youngsters within the same year. The maximum fee should be £7 million, so a maximum of £21 million can be spent. Hence my transfers could pay for themselves.
I know what you’re thinking, ‘I hardly ever sell a player for double their original value.’ That could be because you’re not selling them at the right time, age or when they have a reasonable contract length. But I share your concerns. The worst case scenario is you wind up selling players for a smaller profit, but the transfers should still pay for themselves if you’re buying the players young enough and at the right price. Below are some players that I have seen sold for a huge profit. I have listed the value you can purchase each youngster for in 2010, as well as what I’ve seen them sold for after their 25th birthday. This proves doubling your money is possible.
| Name | Club | Position | Age | bought for | sold for |
| Kyriakos Papadopoulos | Schalke | D (C) | 18 | £6.5M | £15M |
| Adam Hlousek | Kaiserslautern | AM (L), ST | 21 | £3M | £12M |
| Alfred N’Diaye | AS Nancy Lorraine | D (C), DM, M (C) | 20 | £4.2M | £12M |
| Raphaël Varane | RC Lens | D (C) | 17 | £5.5M | £14M |
| Yaya Sanogo | AJ Auxerre | ST | 17 | £5M | £19M |
| Rafael Tolói | Goiás | D (C) | 19 | £4M | £10M |
| Leonel Galeano | Independiente | D (C) | 18 | £6M | £21M |
| Sergio Araujo | Boca | ST | 18 | £3M | £12M |
| Sébastien Corchia | Le Mans FC | D/WB (R) | 19 | £5.5M | £13M |
| Serge Aurier | RC Lens | D/WB (R) | 17 | £5M | £14M |
| Vaclav Kadlec | Sparta Prague | AM (L), ST | 18 | £4.8M | £15M |
| Romelu Lukaku | Anderlecht | ST | 17 | £6M | £25M |
| Tom Cairney | Hull | M (C) | 19 | £2.2M | £10M |
| Dennis Appiah | AS Monaco FC | D (RC), WB (R) | 18 | £5M | £11M |
| Sime Vrsaljko | Dinamo | D/WB (R), DM, M (C) | 18 | £3M | £10M |
| Zezinho | Bahia | M/AM (LC) | 18 | £3.8M | £10M |
| Lorenzo Crisetig | Inter | DM, M (C) | 17 | £1.3 | £18M |
| Kevin | Zaragoza | M (RC), AM (C) | 18 | £2M | £15M |
| Eyal Golasa | M. Haifa | M/AM (RLC) | 18 | £425K | £4.2M |
Conclusion
I accept you won’t sell every single ‘youth to gold’ type signing for double the price…but by selling them at the right time you MUST make a profit at least. Now, when I say the right time, I mean if there is a good offer on the table 1-2 years before your planned selling date, accept it. If you’ve followed the guide, you will have an extremely talented youngster just one year away from been capable of filling the hole anyway. I just put the three year rule there as an example, you may want to change this. It all depends on your managing style and age of transfer targets. Some players need more time to fit into the slot than others. Please remember part two of this guide is a concept, not something that can be put in place and work straight away. I formulated this idea to try out myself and just wanted to share it with the FM community. You could use the structure of my ‘youth to gold’ system, but generate your own version to suit your style. Just remember that buying replacements early, at a young age and a decent price are key. You should also make a big effort to sell your older players before the age of 30.
I hope this post wasn’t too complicated, I have redone it a few times to get the wording right. If you have any questions I’m happy to help as always, but we’ll soon see how this system works…I’m getting close to resuming my Newcastle game and testing this ‘youth to gold’ system. Until next time, thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments as always.
vaibhavc
17 апреля, 2011 at 14:07
Hey Darren
What a post! I am thinking of selling some players now and finding a youngster, But I have a question. Lets say a player is 30 and there is no young guy for this player. Do you sell him three years later if you buy a young guy now, or do you sell him now?
Darren Smith
17 апреля, 2011 at 18:29
Thanks Vaibhavc, I’m glad you like the concept. As for your question, implementing the system is the hardest thing to do. Once the cycle has started you can just keep going, but it will be tough to get things started. I wouldn’t wait for that particular player to reach 33…I’d maybe bend the rules a little as a one off and buy someone who is already just a year away from first team standard.
Thomas Levin
18 апреля, 2011 at 12:34
I know this system is very reliant on a good youth system. Though in this case and as I have done with Udinese (its a little early for my cycle to be in place) I exploited value. Isla was sold of £12m that was double his value, he was 27. I think went straight out and put £6m in for a player that I had been looking at for a while 24 year old Rafinha. a better, younger player for half the price of Isla sale.
I think alot is about exploiting the market as well as building a good youth system which can be used in tandem.
Darren Smith
18 апреля, 2011 at 19:01
Spot on mate, while you’d struggle to implement my system so early with Udinese, you can defo make a great profit from buying wise. Exploiting the market is a key aspect in real life football and something you have done well in Italy so far.
Alex
17 апреля, 2011 at 14:11
That is a great concept Darren, I will try it soon with Academica. I always try and sell players when they are old, but at the moment I sign experienced players to get myself at the top. Once I am there, I will implement this idea and give feedback on whether it works, the degree of accuracy you have given and how great the financial benefits are. Great work Darren, I enjoyed reading this since I am an ideas person :)
Darren Smith
17 апреля, 2011 at 17:20
Cheers Alex, I made this to try myself…I’ve already managed to find three or four amazing talent based on the rules and snapped them up. I’ll be sending them out on loan for a while, then within the next five years they’ll be ready to enter the frame and I can sell the older stars for a reasonable amount. I honestly think this will work as long as the gamer stays loyal to the rules and has the talent. Thanks for the comment, I look forward to seeing how we both do with this.
Sibo
17 апреля, 2011 at 15:19
This is a concept I am working on with Blackpool, which you will see in my transfer update, at the moment I am buying young players with an impact, but if I get this right the next «wave» will be wonderkids that aren’t immediately required in the first team, add this to the selling demonstrated here and I think I will be able to implement this system…
Congratulations on another great post, like the last one I have bookmarked it in order to refer to for future FMs!!! :-)
Darren Smith
17 апреля, 2011 at 17:22
Thanks Sibo, in theory the system works…but I’m yet to confirm if it works in practise. I think it will but only time will tell.
hils
17 апреля, 2011 at 19:10
Hi Darren,thanks for the advice!!!!!!!!
Darren Smith
17 апреля, 2011 at 19:16
No problem Hils, hope you can use it. :)
Kevin
17 апреля, 2011 at 19:42
Hey Darren
Stunning second post to follow on from part one. Lots of good information to use for my new game and thanks again for providing this well laid out guide.
Darren Smith
17 апреля, 2011 at 21:13
Thanks Kevin, I am currently testing part two and hopefully we’ll be seeing the results soon in my Newcastle save…I’ll just say its amazing how much talent you find when forced to look for under 18’s for less than £7 million!! :) I’m also proud to say I hand searched every single player, took about 2 hours but well worth it ;)
Mariano
17 апреля, 2011 at 19:49
Hi Darren thanks for the guide, I´ll share how I manage my finances at FM 2011:
I make a lot of money by considering players as commodities. Every 2 or 3 months I look for young players that are transfer listed, with contracts expiring or from smaller leagues like Serbia-Croatia. Every time I see a good youngster at a cheap price I buy it in 48 months.
For example, right now I´m managing Havant, many times I found youngsters transfer listed from Barcelona-Real Madrid or Valencia on sale for about 2 or 3 M dollars that are very good. After buying them I send them out on loan to a team where they will be a valuable first team player and will pay 100% wage. This way the player develops without me spending any money. I usually have 25 players like this in my reserves.
In the meantime I buy players for my first team in 48 months, this means I can spend 4 times my yearly transfer wage. And when the snowball becomes too big and the numbers are red, I just need to recall or six youngsters which I usually sell them for between 10 and 15 million dollars usually to Russian or Ukrainian teams.
Another trick I use is to offer this players for 1 Million, ONLY FOR SALE NOT FOR LOAN and with a clause of 50% of the next sale for my club, THIS IS ALWAYS ACCEPTED.
So let´s say in the pre season I sell 5 youngsters for 12 M each, I get 60 M to spend, but if I buy in 48 months I got 240 M. Plus I will get around 30M more when this players are sold again to another club.
For this to work it´s very important to have many youngsters in the reserve team on loan to be ready to be recalled and sell in case the numbers get red.
What I usually do in the preseason is to calculate how much money I will have to pay during the season for players I bought in the past and sell enough youngsters so my numbers don´t get red during the season and I can just focus on the games. I also try not to get too much money because then I end up having to pay a lot to the shareholders.
I´ll give some examples of the players I sold in the 2020-2021 season in my Havant & Waterlooville game, first I write
Galan(23YO) bought 1.9M from Osasuna sold 10.5M to Leeds.
Suarez(23YO) bought 2.1M from A Madrid sold 13.5M to Catania.
Jose Angel(22YO) bought on a free transfer sold 24M to Sttutgart.
Camacho(21yo) bought 3.1M from Valencia sold 11.5 to Anderlecht.
Batallini(22yo) bought for 675K from Argentinos sold for 15M to Rapid Wien.
Another way I made lots of money while getting to premier from Blue Square was by making friendlies in New Zealand and Australia, in championship I was getting around 300K dollars by game.
I also get very good free players by watching the players the big teams have transfer listed but no teams are buying them because there wages are too high, so as soon as their contracts expire, I´m ready to sign them for free. This way I can get a first team player for free while selling the one I already have for around 40 or 50M.
Cheers and thanks for the guide.
Darren Smith
17 апреля, 2011 at 21:39
Thanks Mariano, I hope this guide will add to the system you already have in place. I too look to buy youth with the aim to sell them after loan periods. But I’m more into developing youth and watch them rise through my squad rather them sell them so early. But your idea is a good money maker, as long as you don’t spend too much on the first team of course.
MRDNRA
17 апреля, 2011 at 22:04
I’m curious as to whether it would be feasible to do this starting in the first season with a low league club, or is it best to leave it til you’re in the top league in a country?
Would it work if you started it in the first season starting at a big club, or would it again take a few seasons to get the right structure in place?
Thomas Levin
18 апреля, 2011 at 12:44
I think it depends on what your want in success.
As I have said, I have been approaching my Udinese game with a similar outlook. From day one I was only looking to buy younger players, for a decent price (had to little money) I sold all my reserve team which freed up the wage budget and gave me a little more money to spend in transfers.
I did this to push for the Champions League. I hope that the success would bring financial rewards. The players I bought were under 27 many 20, looking to build a first team squad capable of playing straight away in the first team and building together (important for my tactics too). Once this side got the the Champions League, I have a first team that is young so capable of playing for a few years while I implement this similar system.
At lower leagues I think what you want to do is gain success straight away. You don’t have the money to play around with. you need to invest to make money. I would try and develop as many youngster as possible. But you may need to rely on bring experience into the side as in lower league the mental abilities of these players can be very valuable for success.
Darren Smith
18 апреля, 2011 at 18:48
Hey mate, well I wouldn’t recommend this for lower leagues. You need to be getting more experienced players in order to gain promotion. The idea is to have a great side already and then just bring in cheap youth early to save money. At the end of the day you buy top class players at high prices all the time, my idea is to find those players before the price gets inflated. Then you can use this to sell them at a massive profit…rather than been the club paying that huge price form the start. You could probably start straight away with a huge club and just implement the system from scratch, but it would still take time to perfect it.
Sayam Khan
17 апреля, 2011 at 23:07
After reading both parts, I think I could only do around half of what you have instructed at the current point in my Bury game. That is, to sell players at the right time, which I started to do in pre season. I think I can only do half, as I haven’t made them a stable club in Europe, nor made a winning team.
In pre-seaosn, It’s amazing how much money I have made and it hasn’t affected the team much as I signed quiet a few good youngsters a season or two before. I’ll explain in my next post. I also signed the striker with bags of potential, but he cost me much more than 7m, so I will keep that in mind next time.
I can’t wait to do this for my Bury team. This guide doesn’t just stabilise your future and make you richer, it also makes your game more exciting. IE: There maybe a season or 2 where you don’t win trophy’s or the main trophy’s because of not spending ££ on one player, a bit like Arsenal, but I think Arsene Wenger has gone wrong on his Arsenal project. Once it didn’t pay off in the first 3/4 years he should have opened his chequebook and spent properly for once.
Darren Smith
18 апреля, 2011 at 18:51
Thanks Sayam, I hope you can get beyond just half the guide soon…you’ll get there eventually, I have but its taken four years with Newcastle and I’m only just ready to implement my system. I think you’re right about the game been more interesting too. It can get boring just winning all the time, whereas a more realistic game makes for more fun in my opinion.
Lye
18 апреля, 2011 at 02:45
Hi Darren,
Thanks for the two part series. It really helps to take control of our financial situation.
I think this requires some self-discipline there. As a FM player, most of the joy come from winning games and signing great players. Just imagine if we have a big transfer funds, sometimes we can’t resist the urge of spending big money on one player.
The basis of this system is we need have a successful squad full of quality players and we can start scouting for potential young players for replacement. If we do not have that, we will surely spend big to chase for immediate success thus seeing an exceed in wage budget and cause the clubs to see red.
I really like the idea and effort you have put in for this financial guidelines. I will surely keep this in mind when Telford becomes a big club. Thanks Darren.
Darren Smith
18 апреля, 2011 at 18:55
That’s correct Lye, this does take a lot of discipline, but getting rich is never gonna be easy. I actually prefer taking time to find amazing and cheap youth as opposed to just buying the easy purchase. Becoming a big club is the first step, then the second is to get rich using my ‘youth to gold’ system, I can’t wait to test it with Newcastle. :)
CsAtlantis
18 апреля, 2011 at 03:29
That is a very in depth plan Darren, I think I will make one at the end of the season (it’ll be a bit confusing due to the amount of players I have, need to sell, sell, sell!)
I think it is also worth it to search for players with expiring contracts 6 months before end of the season, as long as they are at a good age they should be able to contribute and could be sold off for high amounts in one year or so especially if they perform well (Fernandinho and Caceres who came in for free are already subjected to some very juicy transfer rumors, Fernandinho is valued at 10 million pounds in his rumor while Caceres is 7.5 million pounds)
Those are some amazing examples of the profit a wonderkid can provide, Lorenzo Crisetig looks amazing judging by the amount of profit he generated (Though i think you don’t need 4.8 million to buy Kadlec in his first season)
Darren Smith
18 апреля, 2011 at 18:58
lol with the size of your squads, you’ll probably be raking in £100m!! ;) Only kidding mate, but seriously you have a huge potential income there and I agree with your targeting of expiring contracts. They can also be a great way to make money.
Crisetig doesn’t look amazing at start, but turns into a real gem for such a low cost too! I based Kadlec’s price on what I had to pay for him on patch 11.3.0 It may be different in differing games.
Maxim Terziev
18 апреля, 2011 at 12:52
As a football manager thats my most favorite part to do…develop youngsters.I take some extra time on youths training and then i keep a sharp eye on.No matter the caliber of the club i always rely on developing youngster.Especially in low division clubs youth academy improvement is on high demand.»But I’m more into developing youth and watch them rise through my squad rather them sell them so early.» Nicely said Darren , i basically do the same … except when i decide that particular youngster will not fit my squad and then i will consider selling him at reasonable price and always with clauses attached.
Darren Smith
18 апреля, 2011 at 19:05
Couldn’t agree more Maxim…is there a better feeling than buying a 16 year wonderkid for like £2 million. Then raising him through the squad and sending him out on loan, training him in particular areas before he reaches his 20’s and becomes a first team player. That is when you see the rewards as his value sores and the club benefits from your foresight. Then if things don’t work out, there is always another club that will still see him as talented.
Thomas Levin
18 апреля, 2011 at 12:54
Darren again nice piece.
Very similar to the Wenger way of thinking, this is a nice piece on explaining the Arsenal 10 years plan in real life http://www.arsenalreport.com/2011/03/the-mighty-transition-why-arsenal-havent-won-anything-in-6-years/
I think your spot on. Success should breed success, but it is about investing the money you make from the success in to the right areas.
My aim is to put a similar system in at Udinese, I got a few youngsters already coming through in Rabello and an Italian regen I forget the name of at the moment. In the first stage I went out and bought the best young talent possible, those that could play in the first team straight away. To put in into the Champions League quickly, because I had such a young team, it also meant that I bought them for small prices and have plenty of time now to let them grow together while I implement the second wave for the first team.
But I will never discount spending big on players, bringing in big names to do a job in my teams aswell. Just look at Liverpool. We sold Torres at 27 for an inflated price of £50m and bought two strikers in Carroll (maybe for an inflated price) and Suarez. Both younger and the Liverpool squad is much improved.
My philosophy is more about exploiting market prices and knowing when to sell players and at what price.
Darren Smith
18 апреля, 2011 at 19:08
Yep, again I agree completely…nice article you recommended btw!
We are both coming to a similar stage in the game, I could maybe wait another year or so with my Newcastle side, but the finances are perfect to start part two so I will. An interesting point you make on the torres for Carroll/Suarez deal, this is extremely good business and you’re right, never rule out a big sale if you can back it up.
Sebastian
18 апреля, 2011 at 17:49
Hi.
Does this mean you have 11 senior players, and 11 young players looking to take their place, or do you have 11 senior players, serious subs and 11 young players? Do you loan your youngsters out for 3 years or how do you deal with their development?
Darren Smith
18 апреля, 2011 at 19:17
Well, the system is flexible this way. But I’d recommend forgetting this system until you have a great squad worthy of Champions League football. Then you should work out when each of your senior members will need replacing and buy the youth in plenty of time to develop them. Its upto you how the system is used, its just a concept really. I generally try and get the youth in more than three years early, then loan them for the first two seasons. I carry on loaning them until I can use them on the bench etc.
Sears
18 апреля, 2011 at 19:15
Implementing this system may make you rich, but as your young players develop into »world class» players they’ll want huge wages, especially if your club is enjoying continuous success. Unless you purchase the young players quickly, big clubs such as the Real Madrid’s, Man Utd’s will come and start expressing their interest. They’ll raise the transfer fee and you may have to increase the players wages, player fee, agent fee and clauses in order to sign him. Add to this in a few years the attention they’ll receive from bigger clubs, their agents will instantly seek a more lucrative contract for their clients. It’s all good in theory but some people may struggle to implement the system in practice. A lot of patience and hard work will be required if this system to work.
Anyhow, I’d like to congratulate you on two extremely well written posts and they will undoubtedly benefit the FM community. Well done buddy :-) :-)
Darren Smith
18 апреля, 2011 at 20:05
To be honest, those points are the same no matter how you approach the game and signing players. As a player progresses he will always want more money, that is why you need to offer long term contracts early, well before there current contract expires. I haven’t experienced transfer fees rising because of other clubs showing an interest though…I’ve always found that what the club values the player at based on quality, their finances and the players contract length depicts his asking price not the clubs trying to sign him. Although I could be mislead here and have probably just jinxed myself lol :) You are right, this system will take tonnes of effort and patience, but then if getting rich was easy, I wouldn’t be suggesting such a complex and risky system.
Having said all that Sears, I have to say I do share the same concerns and sceptism as you. That’s why I included so many warnings about this having the potential to fail. It looks lovely in writing, but I’m hoping to find out how effective it is in practise soon enough. :) Cheers mate
Ana Garcia
18 апреля, 2011 at 21:45
Thats a pretty fantastic guide Darren,
Most of the points made I try to do on my games but it some really good advice. Its very well written so dont worry!
I cant really add anyting that hasnt already been said or to anything posted but a brilliant couple of posts to help guide people so really well done!
:)
Darren Smith
18 апреля, 2011 at 21:47
Thanks Ana, writing this guide has actually helped me revaluate my approach to the game…so I hope people reading have found the same effect.
vikingmarius
18 апреля, 2011 at 22:04
Hi Darren,
Fantastic posts I really enjoyed them and learned a lot, thank you so much. You can see I tried to impliment the system a bit with some minor tweaks in my new post http://vikingmarius.fmcrowd.com/uec-summer-2016/ , hope you like it :)
Darren Smith
19 апреля, 2011 at 19:03
Read and commented on your post mate, very good indeed and its great to see people trying my tips. You made a profit straight away and have signed some excellent youth too. Its always going to take years to fully implement without damaging the squads quality, but you’re getting there. :)
Seb S
19 апреля, 2011 at 10:48
Hi,
How do you find all these new regens, do you just send out scouts everywhere or do you look at teams across the world. I struggle to find new regens and i like the sound of this nwe system you have developed. A little advice on how to find awesome young players would be very helpful.
Cheers
Darren Smith
19 апреля, 2011 at 19:13
Hey Seb, well you guessed some of the methods. Get great scouts and send them every where with a specific search for under 19’s. Also manually check yourself, I always check most of the major and African countries youth teams. I then check every single club in Brazil and Argentina…do this twice a year. The other thing you can do is a filtered player search for players no older than 17. Obviously this age can increase as the years go by because regens will start to get older. Hope this helps mate
Timmy
19 апреля, 2011 at 13:58
Darren,this guide is change people mind while playing FM
this week,i was looking some football manager blog to do research about your post(this is the reason why im late to comment),
and you will be shocked,because almost all of the football manager blog i see was use your post!
Congratulation,this is one of the most influental post i ever seen!
you chance people mind,mission success :)
Darren Smith
19 апреля, 2011 at 20:43
Well thats great to hear Timmy, thanks for the info. I did notice one or two other sites using this and also quite a few bloggers on this site. It always feels good to make a difference. :)
Sibo
19 апреля, 2011 at 21:20
Hey Darren,
I have begun the process described here with my latest batch of transfers! Check it out here:
http://grimsbytownfc.fmcrowd.com/blackpool-pre-season-201112/
Thanks! :D
Darren Smith
19 апреля, 2011 at 21:32
OK Sibo, going to look now. :)
Will S
20 апреля, 2011 at 19:18
I’ve been doing this for a while now, and I think you’re missing something, which is to remind people to watch the wage budget/signing on fees as an additional expense which could adversely affect profits.
Take your 6.5 Million signing whom you sold for 15 Million.
You’re currently making 8.5 Million profit as you represent it.
But say he’s on 10k a week (which is about average for a youngster in my experience) you’ll be losing an additional 500k a year for every year you keep him. Some youngsters can even cost you 1 Million a year to keep. That can seriously dent your profits, especially if you’re signing him and his agent on for large sums as well.
Apart from that, no real complaints. I’d consider loaning the players out for a season to be financially lucrative as well (Loan fees of £1 Million + are not uncommon if you play it right, plus no wages to be paid), while they gain value from playing in the right leagues, but it’s no biggie. ;)
Darren Smith
20 апреля, 2011 at 19:34
While I agree with that completely, I have already mentioned wage budgets etc within part one of the financial guide. I just didn’t want to repeat too much from the first post, although it probably would have been best to leave a warning. Sending them out on loan is key to their growth and saving money, but this post is about the system on a financial basis, if I went into too much detail about what to do between buying and selling the players this post would have been more than 3500 words long…I was worried about putting people off reading it due to the length.
Interesting points mate and you’ve obviously tried this yourself. I have done it small scale but not fully implementing the system as yet. Will start soon though. :)
Aaron
21 апреля, 2011 at 19:55
Cheers for the advice! Just went and sold my 30 year old keeper Akinfeev for £19 million and replaced him with a 21 year old who is better for £15 million. Breaking the £7 mil limit but I think it’s good business for 8 or 9 years from this player :)
Darren Smith
21 апреля, 2011 at 20:04
You’re welcome Aaron. To be honest you have captured the idea of my ‘youth to gold’ system well. As long as your making a profit on transfers while bringing in youth to last the years, your certainly on the right track. I only used the £7 million rule along with many more as a guideline. If you can work out a way of spending more and still make a profit on transfers then go for it. ;) I know I will if the opportunity arises.
judast
13 мая, 2011 at 10:20
how u sold player that expensive? last time I sold 11 players and only generate 31M, and that include kevin prince boateng top on 9M. I still wondering how u guys can sell player more than 10M? I managing Heerenveen at the moment. And now my club value is 66 M (20 M rise) and I have state of art youth facilities ^^
Darren Smith
13 мая, 2011 at 11:54
You can’t be selling good players then Judast. The list of players on this post are what I’ve seen the CPU sell at as an example, not what I’ve sold them at. However, I have raked in millions for players by selling them at the correct time. I tend to offer players out while their playing well if I know the player needs to leave the club soon. If you sell a player when he’s too old, you’re wasting your time and the same for an underdeveloped player. Its all about knowing when and how to sell. You won’t always get big money, but should always get over £10m if a player is worth more than £5 million (provided you sell at the right time.)
judast
17 мая, 2011 at 21:07
Another question here (sorry ), what the best time to sell player, because when winter transfer, we still need the player to retain the chemistry. When the summer transfer, I notice that the price decline from the season over period, except the player playing on world cup. Would be the end of season become the best time to sell the player? Thanks for the explaination ^^v
Darren Smith
18 мая, 2011 at 12:07
The best time to sell a player is when he’s playing well or a club is showing interest. But in terms of squad morale selling them near the end of the season is best…because the team probably won’t care considering they have a holiday and then pre-season the player will be gone. That’s in my experience. But to get the most money its when clubs show an interest and your player is playing well with more than 2 years on his contract.
Mikey
11 июля, 2011 at 15:03
Great post…more or less I’m doing the same with my teams. Just time to time bending the rules…becasue you just love some players too much. You just can’t sell the likes of Carragher or Gerrard. You just can’t :) As the years are passing by there will be players like this. The local lads.
Darren Smith
11 июля, 2011 at 18:18
Thanks Mikey, while I have stuck by the system well…I do break it every now and then when common sense say to. Like selling a player for double what an expensive replacement costs.
NeV3rKilL
2 августа, 2011 at 14:51
Thank you Darren for all your post in this, your website.
First of all I’d like to apologize for my horrible english, lack of Spanish education :(
I don’t understand how scouting works at all.
If the scouts are looking for regions? This will improve his country knowledge? What’s the difference between the club countries knowledge and the scouts knowledge? Can I send a scout that is good in «Brasil, England, South Africa» to scout all Southamerica (my team has good levels in all southamerican countries but the knowledge of my scouts are very spread) then, how it works?
I think that the club knowledge is just for show all the players stats and the scouts knowledge is the habilitie to that scout to find players in that country, can I be right? but if I’m right, how will improve a «reserve club» (I don’t know how it’s in english I mean that my team can send my youth players to that team) in another area the quality of the scouting?
Thank you very much.
Darren Smith
2 августа, 2011 at 19:39
Hi mate, your welcome for the posts and I’m just glad they are useful. Now let me try to answer your questions. If I haven’t understood anything correctly please fell free to tell me.
— First of all a I am not sure what you mean about a scouts club and country knowledge. A scout doesn’t have knowledge of specific clubs, he just has knowledge within different countries and obviously the better his knowledge in these countries the better players he will find at small and large clubs within that country. Basically players at smaller clubs will become visible with more ease if you have good scouts with knowledge in those countries.
— You could send a scout to South America who knows Brazil well, but just remember he will take longer to search the other countries within S. America as his knowledge won’t be as good and he may miss some hidden gems. Basically if you have a scout with great knowledge of Brazil and Argentina, it would be worth sending him to the region of South America.
— If I am understanding you correctly, your wondering how a scouts knowledge of your club differs from his knowledge of countries. Well all your backroom staff will improve their knowledge of your club over time and this will mean more detailed opposition reports and analysis of your own team when requested like player ratings etc. All the country knowledge means is how quickly, efficiently and accurately a scout can provide reports from that specific country.
John
4 ноября, 2011 at 21:08
Darren, what do you suggest I do with Aberdeen? A club with okay finances, basic youth facilities (New facilities will be built for September 2012) and a team made up of promising youngsters and an okay set of older players. With a transfer budget of 16k, what do you think I should do?
Darren Smith
4 ноября, 2011 at 21:36
My suggestion is to bring in any cheap young talent you can find, but mainly do everything and anything to get Champions League football…then, when you are able to challenge in Europe look at the finances and start to trim the edges and tighten everything up. Its impossible to get rich without European football and the quality of player is far less. You need that then you can start to build a young squad and cut the wage budget back.
John
5 ноября, 2011 at 17:23
I have already started to trim the wage budget by getting rid of some old, un-needed players. I have decided to not try and sell the current bunch of 27-29 year olds and just let them retire when the youth players waiting will hopefully be good enough. I am in pole position for the Europa League (3rd spot with a 10 point gap over 4th place) and into January. The Old Firm (Celtic and Rangers) hold the two Champions League spots but I am only 8 points off Celtic with a game in hand. Oh, I forgot to mention, we are spiraling into debt :L
John
5 ноября, 2011 at 17:24
I am playing on FM 2012 btw.
Darren Smith
5 ноября, 2011 at 17:45
Its tough for sure mate, I have done similar with Malaga but obviously on a larger scale due to the leagues reputation. I went to sign a fair few players and now find myself in a lot of debt without the chance to offload my older unwanted players for the cash I’d like to receive to make their departure worthwhile. Once the Y2G system is firmly in place things will change though, it takes a lot of time but that system should mean you’re selling your older stars for top dollar as the youth hits a good enough level to slot straight in. :)
John
5 ноября, 2011 at 18:13
Thanks for all your help Darren :). I will let you know how I am getting on at the end of the season.
Darren Smith
5 ноября, 2011 at 18:30
No problem at all mate. I’d love to hear back on your progress so will hold you to that :)
John
5 ноября, 2011 at 19:23
Do you have Skype or Steam?
Darren Smith
5 ноября, 2011 at 20:50
I have a steam account as that is how I downloaded the game this year.
John
5 ноября, 2011 at 22:11
What’s your steam name?
Darren Smith
5 ноября, 2011 at 22:14
Its dazdancer, weird name I know lol :)
John
5 ноября, 2011 at 22:20
Sent u a friend request :)
Darren Smith
5 ноября, 2011 at 22:26
Accepted :)
Luke Manger
23 ноября, 2011 at 01:29
Hi Darren ,
I have been trying something similar to the y2g system, with afc Telford in the championship( cannot for the life of me get promoted) and have brought in some great youth players, for example Carl lillis was brought in from wigan with huge potential and even managed to make a few first team appearences in his opening season, however rangers cane in with a 925k offer the following season and the board accepted it without giving me and option… This has happened with around 4 other wonderkids, making it impossible to make good money on them. On top of that the club is always in the red, even though I stay well below the wage budget and make around 3 million in transfer fees every season.
We are sort of in limbo at the minute, after making a costly promotion push last season, and only narrowly missing out, mostly due to being robbed by Bolton in the play off final… We were 3-1 up with 25 mins to go and lost 4-3.
Do you have any ideas or advice that could help?
Thanks
Darren Smith
23 ноября, 2011 at 07:38
I always say you have two options in lower league football, either do the loan and free transfer market while trying to cut your wage bill and make a profit on players (this option could mean taking two to three seasons for everything promotion) or go for it and spare no expense. I usually go for the second option and know that once the club is established in the top flight the money will take care of its self. There aren’t any quick fixes unfortunately.
rebelswrestler
13 апреля, 2012 at 05:02
Great guide, quick question, you mention under the stabilize portion to get the squad down to 26 players. Is this the entire squad you’re talking about? Like get rid of the youth team and reserves?
Darren Smith
13 апреля, 2012 at 08:35
It depends on what stage you’re at, if you have already started bringing in and raising youth then it may be different but 9 times out of 10 your reserves and youth are awful so get rid of them also and then start bringing in actual quality…you can have more than 26 players but only if the extra players are very talented youngsters.
rebelswrestler
13 апреля, 2012 at 21:06
Hey another question, I’m having trouble selling my youth players that I don’t need (the ones with 2 star potential), any ideas? I transfer listed them and set them as not needed by the club
Darren Smith
13 апреля, 2012 at 21:09
You won’t find a bidder so just release them on a free.
rebelswrestler
16 апреля, 2012 at 02:32
Sorry for all the questions :P but after I’ve released them on a free, it says it’ll cost me x amount of money, i say ok to that and so they’re released, but why doesn’t my budget increase?
Jazril
17 января, 2014 at 02:49
You’re not getting any transfer fee,so it wont increase your transfer budget,and your finance will we depleted as it will cost u more money,whereby your wage budget will be increase due to their wages if removed form your payroll
lo
7 мая, 2012 at 15:18
how do you sell your first team player when he is still in peak age and its a good time to sell? do you offer him to clubs or wait for offers?
Darren Smith
7 мая, 2012 at 15:23
Always offer him to clubs at around double his value and go from there…if there’s good interest you’ll get just below double his value but if not then you may need to settle for nearer his actual value. Either way you’ll probably wait forever to get someone to make a bid without offering them out.
lo
12 мая, 2012 at 01:09
it seems that those who are not playing regularly can’t fetch a good price, most of the time, i need to set it exactly to his value. So, should i play him more often to bump up his value?
Darren Smith
12 мая, 2012 at 10:19
Most certainly, if your players aren’t playing then clubs won’t want to pay over the odds.
lo
14 мая, 2012 at 13:53
thanks, i’m on a newcastle save using a wingless 433 tactic, shut hatem arfa out, and try to sell, but can’t. after another 1 season of playing regularly, manage to sell off at 10m with his value at 4.5m.
those youngsters that are «touted as the new …» means that they have the potential to be stars?
Darren Smith
14 мая, 2012 at 19:10
IT can be an indication of that yes, but not always correct so don’t just rely on that as some of the better players don’t have a ‘touted as the next…’ in their information.
John
1 июня, 2012 at 20:42
Hi Darren. I appreciate I’m about a year to late with the comment but i only just stumbled across this and i think its brilliant! My only question is how you go about your squad in the sense of back up. So for instance say we just started a new save. Were Man United, we have Evra who is going to retire soon and a very capable back up in Fabio. Once Evra retires, or sold on, we are going to have Fabio as our only LB, therefore would you buy the new wonder kid LB as Fabio’s cover or do you have someone else a bit older? Baring in mind that the youngster will probably only be 1 or 2 star and Fabio would have a good 8 years left at the top? Thanks in advance
Darren Smith
1 июня, 2012 at 21:17
I would go for someone around 18 years old that is capable in cup comps against the easier opponents but has plenty of room to grow quickly. Its a real juggling act and as mentioned its not an exact science, this is a concept as opposed to a system I guess (despite the name.) I think its vital for gamers to adapt for their circumstances and I have basically shown the extreme of what you can do with this if you get organised, but again as mentioned it takes many years to implement. Due to issues like the one you mentioned you can’t just dive straight into it.
RandomGuy
4 августа, 2012 at 01:05
Hi
I loved reading this Wengerlike post of yours and really liked the idea. One thing that I’d love to know more about though is how you actually develope those youngsters of yours. When you buy them at the age of 16-18 they surely can’t play for the first team? Do you just play them in the youth teams? And how good coaches/youth coaches (stars, facilities) does one need for a team, so that the youngsters will improve enough? I’d love to hear a career of someone you bought young (less than 18) and then sold after playing few years in first team.
Darren Smith
4 августа, 2012 at 08:53
Heres the best place for that information https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/2011/08/football-manager-2011-guide-how-to-develop-youth-and-turn-prospects-into-stars/
Tham Mun Wai
13 августа, 2013 at 07:31
This is a really good guide. Unfortunately i only stumbled on to this guide a bit late. I usually spend big on really very good youngsters usually around the age of 16-17 years old. While i keep an eye on some really good players like lamela, strootman, falcao and etc. I only make my move on them when they are transfer listed for being unhappy at their current club. That way i get to buy these quality players at a cheaper price. I later sell them off for a higher price to get a profit and keep a nice bank balance for my club. I don’t know about others but this worked for me. With this i managed to get my hands on lamela, eriksen, strootman, falcao, mvilla and isco. I also make sure to keep an eye on players entering their final year of their contracts. They are usually some really good players available. If i see one that will be able to fit into my squad, then i quickly make a move on them by approaching them to join me when their contract expires. Just wanted to share some of my experience. Hope you don’t mind.
Darren Smith
13 августа, 2013 at 08:29
Thanks for sharing that. I often find that the best players been transfer listed means they have dipped slightly and lost some of their best years of development but its not always the case and it is a good way of turning a profit on otherwise expensive options.
Tham Mun Wai
13 августа, 2013 at 10:02
In my save, mvilla was unhappy at his current club. So i bought him during the january transfer window for $19 million. Played him as a regular for like a year then decided to cash on him for $43.5 million to Chelsea. I am playing Arsenal by the way. As for strootman and eriksen, i used a dirty tactic by trying to unsettle them for like half a season and managed to get them to hand in a transfer request. They are currently doing awesome for me. Falcao and isco were brought in when i found them available in the transfer market. At the moment i am considering selling some of them to make way for my youngsters. I guess i will be able to make my board happy by getting them loads of cash for them.