Top, top players appear on your "realistic" or "interested" list after very short term success.
My first issue with this was an Ajax save, where I was able to sign Florian Wirtz for his £93m release clause, having simply won a couple of league titles. We didn't make it far in the Champions League or do anything that Ajax haven't done several times in the last 20 years. I've noticed the likes of Bellingham appearing on my 'realistic' list for pretty average clubs despite playing every game for Real, winning Ballon D'Ors, etc, but have never actually reported it to SI.
What's prompted it is my most recent save as Wolves, where I won the Europa League in 2025/26, qualifying for the Champions League. We're having another fantastic season in 26/27 and sit third at the halfway stage. While this is hugely successful, you do not become a "big club" overnight, and we are still only expected to finish in the top half of the Premier League. Irl, most big players would see this as nothing more than temporary overachievement. For example, when Leicester won the Premier League (Ten times what I have achieved with Wolves) they could not suddenly attract some of the biggest names in world football.
However, as I approach January, I find Bellingham, Saka and Wirtz interested in joining us. This is not some special context where Arsenal are performing terribly - they're actually above me in the league. I appreciate that being on the realistic/interested list does not mean you can easily sign them (wages will be huge) but for me, it's a bit silly that they would even be remote possibilities despite the success we've had.
On a related note, I've also found that it's too easy to sign players who moved to Saudi prior to the start of saves - Laporte, SMS, Neves, Fabinho, Veiga, Ibanez, Kessie, Demiral, Mane, ASM will always leave at the end of their deals (they never appear unhappy) as Saudi do not appear to ever offer new deals. In fact, as Ajax, I signed Laporte on a free and then sold him back to his original Saudi club for £40m 12 months later.
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