Can't activate extension option because player accepted a contract elsewhere

Hi, you would have needed to activate the option earlier.

Until the option is activated it is just an option and not an actual contract so the player is free to agree a deal elsewhere.

It has never been mentioned that these options essentially have deadlines that occur 6 months before the end of the contract!

"Until the option is activated it is just an option and not an actual contract so the player is free to agree a deal elsewhere."

Isn't the point of such an option that I can, unilaterally, contract that player for an extra season... regardless of what the player wants or any other agreements he might have?

Is that really how it works in real life?  Doesn't seem like much of an option for the team if the player is allowed to essentially void the option by accepting a different contract.

I'm thinking of real life this year, where Anthony Martial entered the final year of a deal with Man U holding a one year option.  I don't recall reading that Martial was free to agree to a deal with another club in his last 6 months until Man U declined their option.  In fact, I recall some discussion that Man U were thinking of activating the option not because they wanted him back but in hopes of some Saudi club buying him.

Does this work the same way for conditional options, such as those tied to games played? Those would often activate in the second half of the season, after the games played threshold is reached, so after a player might have accepted a different contract.

So if I have a player entering the last season of a deal, with an option for another year after 20 games played, and he plays his 20th game on Feb 15, but the week before he agreed to a contract elsewhere.... that contractually agreed option year basically disappears?

I know there are emails notifying you of whose contracts are expiring, and if they have extension options, but maybe it should be made more explicit on those screens that you must accept the options before the last 6 months of the contract or players can void them.

 

Edited 4 hours ago by nms1987