Release clauses

[Kimmy]

Hi guys,

I am into my second year of my man city save and I want to get isco from real Madrid. However they are not willing to do business with me and isco have a release clause of 600 million. Does that mean it is impossible to get him as the game only let me bid for 300 million max?

[White Flag]

No. A minimum release clause just means they are obliged to accept a bit of €600m.

[Neotropolis]

A release clause just means that if a bid is made that equals or betters it then the club have to accept it. However you can still buy players for less than their release clauses. 

In your case with buying Isco, I'd work out what you'd be willing to pay for him and put in a starting bid lower than that and go from there.

[Hovis Dexter]

Also, bear in mind that Spain is different from most leagues in that all(?) players have a minimum release clause in their contracts and that the amount o the release clause is very often much larger than the player’s value. I’ve found this to be very helpful in the game when someone wants to leave for another club as you have the option to tell them that you’ll let them go if the other team matches their release clause.

[Kimmy]

1 hour ago, Neotropolis said:

A release clause just means that if a bid is made that equals or betters it then the club have to accept it. However you can still buy players for less than their release clauses. 

In your case with buying Isco, I'd work out what you'd be willing to pay for him and put in a starting bid lower than that and go from there.

I'm willing to pay whatever it takes to get him, the problem is that real is having none of it. I tried making a maximum 300M bid and got flat out rejected. Is there anyway to meet that monstrous release clause?

[Neotropolis]

2 minutes ago, Kimmy said:

I'm willing to pay whatever it takes to get him, the problem is that real is having none of it. I tried making a maximum 300M bid and got flat out rejected. Is there anyway to meet that monstrous release clause?

You could always add the instalments option, but this wont trigger the release clause. Though, if they're not going to sell for £300mil, I'd say they're not looking to sell him regardless. However, you could try to unsettle him by declaring him as your top target and sending either your DoF or top scout to go watch him for three months. 

[Snorks]

Unsettle him is probably the only way to go from here to be honest.

Talk him up in the press, make him a Top Target, monitor his responses as well - it will give you some idea of whether he actually wants to come to you - maybe he doesn't want to leave?

Who is his agent? Start working with his agent on other smaller transfers, build a relationship. Every little helps.

[jaysdailydose]

I must admit, though... if the game won't allow the player to bid the release clause, and the club has the money, that's an issue...

I gotta say, though... I've NEVER had even a 300M transfer kitty, so I'm not assuming with the game works that this would be an issue... how in the world do you have even 300M available to bid on a single player, much less his 600M release clause?  

I'm guessing that it might have been achieved using the editor, in which case I'm going to go with Unrealistic Input Produces Strange Results.  The game as written doesn't ever expect you to have the financial capability to make that bid, so it hasn't accounted for it.

(I've been playing this game since CM 93/94, and I never knew there was a maximum bid allowed in the transfer system, so methinks some funny business may have occurred, no?)

[Neotropolis]

5 hours ago, jaysdailydose said:

(I've been playing this game since CM 93/94, and I never knew there was a maximum bid allowed in the transfer system, so methinks some funny business may have occurred, no?)

There's technically been a maximum bid in every game, it's just so high (relative to fees going on IRL) that you'll never really hit it. 

But yes, £300mil is the most you can set as the 'basic upfront fee'. It was £200mil in FM17 but with the Neymar transfer, they had to up it.

You can set the instalments option at £300mil too. So that's £600mil right there. 

@jaysdailydose, you've got me thinking now though, I'm going to see what the 'highest' fee there is by adding every option at it's highest amount. I'll let you know what I come up with!

[Neotropolis]

@jaysdailydose I've run the calculations and saw what the 'highest' bid you can put in for a player is. There are 26 different options you can select when it comes to fees (this doesn't include 'Additional Clauses' as they add no actual value to the transfer) including the initial upfront fee.

Each of these options can go up to £300mil meaning that the total fee you can [eventually] pay for a player is £7.8 Billion. So it's safe to say that it will never be reached.

[Kimmy]

9 hours ago, jaysdailydose said:

I must admit, though... if the game won't allow the player to bid the release clause, and the club has the money, that's an issue...

I gotta say, though... I've NEVER had even a 300M transfer kitty, so I'm not assuming with the game works that this would be an issue... how in the world do you have even 300M available to bid on a single player, much less his 600M release clause?  

I'm guessing that it might have been achieved using the editor, in which case I'm going to go with Unrealistic Input Produces Strange Results.  The game as written doesn't ever expect you to have the financial capability to make that bid, so it hasn't accounted for it.

(I've been playing this game since CM 93/94, and I never knew there was a maximum bid allowed in the transfer system, so methinks some funny business may have occurred, no?)

No I haven't used an editor. I'm man city and I sold a few players as well. There's no way anyone can ever have a 600M budget without cheating, I was just randomly putting that amount in and realise there's a limit.

[Kimmy]

2 hours ago, Neotropolis said:

@jaysdailydose I've run the calculations and saw what the 'highest' bid you can put in for a player is. There are 26 different options you can select when it comes to fees (this doesn't include 'Additional Clauses' as they add no actual value to the transfer) including the initial upfront fee.

Each of these options can go up to £300mil meaning that the total fee you can [eventually] pay for a player is £7.8 Billion. So it's safe to say that it will never be reached.

I tried making a maximum offer with all the additional clauses added but got flat out rejected by madrid again. Seems like he's untouchable

[Neotropolis]

53 minutes ago, Kimmy said:

I tried making a maximum offer with all the additional clauses added but got flat out rejected by madrid again. Seems like he's untouchable

I think it's more what @jaysdailydose was referring to about the AI not knowing how to respond. 

The only thing I will say, is if you really want Isco, then unsettle using the tactics mentioned above.

[DamianJMcGrath]

2 hours ago, Neotropolis said:

I think it's more what @jaysdailydose was referring to about the AI not knowing how to respond. 

The only thing I will say, is if you really want Isco, then unsettle using the tactics mentioned above.

I do enjoy the fact that Real Madrid turn down a bid of £7.6 billion! 

How good is Isco!? 

[a.panda]

8 hours ago, Neotropolis said:

You can set the instalments option at £300mil too. So that's £600mil right there. 

 

I may have missed a thing or two, but the only way to "realistically" reach the release clause is to pay ALL the funds upfront, i.e. £600m. I guess 300m+300m instalments would not work?

IIRC this was the same for Neymar, the whole 222m euros was paid in one go.

@Kimmy If true, that leads to the only conclusion - one cannot, game-wise, buy off his contract (because of the 300m limit), and the only way is to unsettle him as others mention. It may be interesting to raise the topic in bugs forum as this release clause would never be achieved?

[Neotropolis]

1 hour ago, a.panda said:

I may have missed a thing or two, but the only way to "realistically" reach the release clause is to pay ALL the funds upfront, i.e. £600m. I guess 300m+300m instalments would not work?

Nah it wouldn't work. 

I wasn't referring to breaking the release clause there, I was referring to the 'highest' bid you can make for a player, which I later found out was £7.8 billion.

[jaysdailydose]

2 hours ago, a.panda said:

I may have missed a thing or two, but the only way to "realistically" reach the release clause is to pay ALL the funds upfront, i.e. £600m. I guess 300m+300m instalments would not work?

IIRC this was the same for Neymar, the whole 222m euros was paid in one go.

@Kimmy If true, that leads to the only conclusion - one cannot, game-wise, buy off his contract (because of the 300m limit), and the only way is to unsettle him as others mention. It may be interesting to raise the topic in bugs forum as this release clause would never be achieved?

No, release clauses have to be paid in full at the time of purchasing the player, so it is impossible to meet the clause of pretty much anyone decent in La Liga if the most you can spend upfront is 300m.

I don't think you can technically classify this as a bug, though, as I'm quite sure the game is written to never give out 300m in transfer funds, no matter how rich the club is.

The only thing I think COULD work in this situation is the "Interact with Board" option and ask them to buy...but I've never seen that work anyways...

[Tajerio]

4 hours ago, jaysdailydose said:

No, release clauses have to be paid in full at the time of purchasing the player, so it is impossible to meet the clause of pretty much anyone decent in La Liga if the most you can spend upfront is 300m.

I don't think you can technically classify this as a bug, though, as I'm quite sure the game is written to never give out 300m in transfer funds, no matter how rich the club is.

The only thing I think COULD work in this situation is the "Interact with Board" option and ask them to buy...but I've never seen that work anyways...

This may have changed in FM18, but without altering anything I've had transfer budgets of nearly a billion pounds in multiple different saves in FM17.  Years of going deep in Europe, domestic success, good wage control, and buying low while selling high can see you entrusted with massive sums by the club.  This is particularly the case if you build up a world-class starting XI, because then you aren't doing a lot in the transfer market, and so the club's profits are even higher. 

[jaysdailydose]

1 hour ago, Tajerio said:

This may have changed in FM18, but without altering anything I've had transfer budgets of nearly a billion pounds in multiple different saves in FM17.  Years of going deep in Europe, domestic success, good wage control, and buying low while selling high can see you entrusted with massive sums by the club.  This is particularly the case if you build up a world-class starting XI, because then you aren't doing a lot in the transfer market, and so the club's profits are even higher. 

Do you possibly still have the save files for FM17?  If that is the case, that you are being entrusted with that much, then a maximum bid of 300M while players have 600M release clauses really is a bug.  If you've got the money and you can't spend it, that is definitely "buggish."  

Since it's unedited, the game shouldn't have an artificial cap in place that wouldn't be there.  You achieved your ability to spend through normal gameplay, you should be able to trigger that release clause if you have the money.  

I've never had a transfer budget to where I could spend that much, but I generally play challenge play to where once I win the Champions League once, the challenge is either over -- or I need to win it with another club.  I never stay with a club long enough to produce a 1B transfer kitty.  Congratulations, though, it is definitely something to be proud of if you've got so much money that the game literally won't even let you spend it.

[jaysdailydose]

Please note, if any devs read my above message -- I understand from a game design perspective, and how the series evolved over the years, that you think nobody will achieve that through normal gameplay, so please don't take that as a shot.  But, if people ARE regularly achieving those sums now, they've GOT to be able to trigger those clauses, if they have the money.

It isn't a "bug."  But, it will definitely produce gameplay that isn't realistic at the highest level.  If someone takes a superclub and are being granted transfer kitties nearing a BILLION, they have to be able to spend, no?

I've got to stop reading threads... seeing these different ideas and situations always makes me want to make a save to investigate things, when I'm sitting here and should be playing the game instead.

[danmcconnell1]

I'm currently in season 4 on FM18 with Atletico and Isco joined Man U for £120m in the summer of 2021. A bit of patience, aggressive scouting and plenty of media talk and he's easy enough to prise away, albeit for very good money.

[Spurs08]

There is no way any club should ever be turning down a bid worth £7.8bn. That's definitely worth of the bugs forum.

[jaysdailydose]

3 hours ago, Spurs08 said:

There is no way any club should ever be turning down a bid worth £7.8bn. That's definitely worth of the bugs forum.

And, as I posted above, if a club has a transfer budget nearing £1B, they should absolutely be allowed to bid and trigger a £600M release clause.  

I agree with @Spurs08, both the £300M max up-front bid, and a club turning down nearly £8B are definitely worthy of the bugs forum... even if it isn't necessarily a "bug" it is a game issue that certainly needs to be looked at.

[Tajerio]

22 hours ago, jaysdailydose said:

Do you possibly still have the save files for FM17?  If that is the case, that you are being entrusted with that much, then a maximum bid of 300M while players have 600M release clauses really is a bug.  If you've got the money and you can't spend it, that is definitely "buggish."  

Since it's unedited, the game shouldn't have an artificial cap in place that wouldn't be there.  You achieved your ability to spend through normal gameplay, you should be able to trigger that release clause if you have the money.  

I've never had a transfer budget to where I could spend that much, but I generally play challenge play to where once I win the Champions League once, the challenge is either over -- or I need to win it with another club.  I never stay with a club long enough to produce a 1B transfer kitty.  Congratulations, though, it is definitely something to be proud of if you've got so much money that the game literally won't even let you spend it.

I'm sure I do still have the save--but it's only on my desktop and I'm away for six months for PhD research.  So unfortunately I've made all the contribution I can make!

[jaysdailydose]

23 minutes ago, Tajerio said:

I'm sure I do still have the save--but it's only on my desktop and I'm away for six months for PhD research.  So unfortunately I've made all the contribution I can make!

Understandable, and I'm sure it could be duplicated if someone put their mind to it.   Maybe me, for instance.  LOL

Good luck on your research, friend.