Which players are eligible to sign as U18 and which aren't?

[Joey Numbaz]

I coach in England and most of the countries in Europe seem to have a rule that doesn't allow players to transfer out of the country before their 18th birthday.

But I have signed some players in this window U18, from countries that otherwise seem restricted. I signed one from France, and two from the Czech Republic. But other players from those countries cannot transfer until they turn 18. What is the difference that makes these guys able to arrive before they turn 18 while I have to wait for others?

The French player came from a Ligue 1 squad, but he does have dual France/Madagascar citizenship. I don't think the dual citizenship matters, because the Czech players are just Czech. Both played in the Czech Republic before I signed them.

 

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Signing of U18 players is banned by FIFA unless both the selling and buying club is inside the EU, however inside the EU the player needs to be at least 16 and there is also a training requirement - not sure exactly how the game determines this but it is based on some of your youth facility level, but not sure if its an absolute level or relative to the club you are signing the player from.

Also if you are playing in England Brexit will complicate things as depending on your Brexit you'll likely find yourself out of the EU and will be limited to only signing U18's from England and Wales. So pre-Brexit you could sign them, but post-Brexit you cannot.

There are also two other critera for the transfer of U18's - if both clubs are within a certain distance of the same border though I don't think this is in the game, and the player moving countries for non-footballing reasons (which is generally how teams get around the rules IRL) however this only affects players being generated into your academy and cannot be used to sign players.

Player nationality shouldn't have any affect on when the transfer can take place (though FIFA don't seem to understand their own rules as their was a recent case where I think it was Chelsea signed a 16yo Italian from Argentina, with FIFA approving the transfer as he had an Italian passport - but this shouldn't have factored into the transfer).

 

[Joey Numbaz]

Interesting ... I actually just signed a U18 from Argentina who also has Italian citizenship. But the game is making me wait until he's 18 for him to join.

I am past Brexit, I'm in August 2020, and I got lucky with the soft Brexit, no changes soccer wise.

I am at Everton, so I have Top youth facilities and State of the art training facilities.

Just seems weird, some guys can join before they are 18, others can't, from the same countries. Of the 7 players I signed, 3 were able to join pre-18 and 4 could not.

[Joey Numbaz]

Could it be because I was able to sign those three before July 1? Is there a window, say June 9 - June 30 where U18s can move within the EU? It seems like now, every player I find who is U17 won't be able to move until they turn 18.

[michaeltmurrayuk]

When did your Brexit go through? It's possible any transfers you were able to confirm of EU nationals before getting the initial Brexit notification (which normally happens in Nov) were still able to happen before they turned 18 whilst any offers made afterwards would be classed as you being non-EU so have to wait until they turn 18.

The transfer window shouldn't make a difference as the one that opens in June is for domestic players only, everyone else can only join on the 1st July, whilst the player from Argentina would always have had to wait until he turned 18 regardless of Brexit.

For the U18 players you could sign what clubs and countries did they come from, when did they sign, when roughly did you offer for them and what are their D.O.B, same with the players that had to wait? As that info should allow us to narrow down why some could be signed and others not.

Though now you have had Brexit you won't be able to sign any U18's apart from domestic ones (and possibly ones from other Home Nations).

[Joey Numbaz]

Thanks for looking into this.

My Brexit was the soft Brexit ... there were no changes at all to European players, if I understood it correctly.

The three players I mentioned above, two from the Czech Republic and one from France all joined July 1, 2020; all are still 17 years old.

Luckily I save the game every few days, going back to the old saves from before July 1 now to check ...

Players who arrived July 1, 2020, with no issues.

Alberto Nomenjanahary - DOB March 16, 2003. Came from SM Caen (France Ligue 1) - Signed June 16, 2020

Pavel Siegl - DOB December 14, 2002, Came from Slavia Praha (Czech Synot Liga) - Transfer offer accepted June 16, 2020, signed June 21, 2020

Petr Stepanek - DOB December 6, 2002, Came from Slavia Praha (Czech Synot Liga) - He was signed before June 9, 2020 (emails aren't saved back that far to find the exact date)

Players who have to wait until they are 18

Ludovic Gimenez - DOB December 4, 2002, Came from Standard Liège (Belgium Jupiler Pro League) - Signed June 25, 2020

A couple of others also signed after June 25 ... I have an idea.

Save from June 20, 2020 - Max Schütz, German - born 1/27/2003 - just a random guy I was scouting. Clicked to make an offer, the message on the left says the transfer will go through July 1, 2020 (even though he'd still only be 17).

However, in the June 27 save, same player - it says the transfer will go through 1/27/2003 on his 18th birthday.

A-ha! Something happened to change the rules between June 23 and June 25, even though I have the soft Brexit which doesn't require work permits for EU players. And there was no email, at least back to May 24, 2020 that explained this was going to happen. That I can find anyway. I do feel like I received a Brexit email at some point in the last few game months, but hell if I can find it anywhere.

So even with a soft Brexit, it looks like U18s no longer move to the UK after June 23-25, 2020. Bummer. I love putting together a really good U18 squad and this is going to be much tougher (and more expensive) with only the UK to choose from.

 

 

[cris182]

I don't think this is to do with permits at all i think as you are leaving the EU the rules are changing, That is why you are getting different results on different dates 

[Joey Numbaz]

Just now, cris182 said:

I don't think this is to do with permits at all i think as you are leaving the EU the rules are changing, That is why you are getting different results on different dates 

That makes a lot of sense. It just didn't click for me. I wish I would have realized that, I would have had a little more urgency signing some of these guys.

So on the one end, since England now is not in the EU, we can't get EU U18s to come over until they are 18. And since England has the work permit rules, we can't get any non-EU U18s at all. I can still get the guys who just turned 18 and can play for my U18s for part of the year, but it won't be the same. Oh well. I guess I need to adapt.

[Sonikku]

You would not be able to sign non-EU under 18 irrespective of work permit rules. FIFA rules only allow exemptions where both buying and selling club are in the EU as stated above. 

[michaeltmurrayuk]

On 10/10/2017 at 17:56, Joey Numbaz said:

Thanks for looking into this.

My Brexit was the soft Brexit ... there were no changes at all to European players, if I understood it correctly.

The three players I mentioned above, two from the Czech Republic and one from France all joined July 1, 2020; all are still 17 years old.

Luckily I save the game every few days, going back to the old saves from before July 1 now to check ...

Players who arrived July 1, 2020, with no issues.

Alberto Nomenjanahary - DOB March 16, 2003. Came from SM Caen (France Ligue 1) - Signed June 16, 2020

Pavel Siegl - DOB December 14, 2002, Came from Slavia Praha (Czech Synot Liga) - Transfer offer accepted June 16, 2020, signed June 21, 2020

Petr Stepanek - DOB December 6, 2002, Came from Slavia Praha (Czech Synot Liga) - He was signed before June 9, 2020 (emails aren't saved back that far to find the exact date)

Players who have to wait until they are 18

Ludovic Gimenez - DOB December 4, 2002, Came from Standard Liège (Belgium Jupiler Pro League) - Signed June 25, 2020

A couple of others also signed after June 25 ... I have an idea.

Save from June 20, 2020 - Max Schütz, German - born 1/27/2003 - just a random guy I was scouting. Clicked to make an offer, the message on the left says the transfer will go through July 1, 2020 (even though he'd still only be 17).

However, in the June 27 save, same player - it says the transfer will go through 1/27/2003 on his 18th birthday.

A-ha! Something happened to change the rules between June 23 and June 25, even though I have the soft Brexit which doesn't require work permits for EU players. And there was no email, at least back to May 24, 2020 that explained this was going to happen. That I can find anyway. I do feel like I received a Brexit email at some point in the last few game months, but hell if I can find it anywhere.

So even with a soft Brexit, it looks like U18s no longer move to the UK after June 23-25, 2020. Bummer. I love putting together a really good U18 squad and this is going to be much tougher (and more expensive) with only the UK to choose from.

 

 

Yeah as I thought it's Brexit - Your Brexit would have taken effect on the 24th June 2020 (season update day), and whilst you got the soft option you still technically left the EU - so as long as the offers were confirmed before the season updated you could sign them, afterwards and going forward you'll need to wait until they turn 18.