Sign players for specific squad

[MaskedReferee]

Morning,

Quite often I will sign players for my under-18 and under-23 side with no real intention of them ever being in the First-team. For example, I might sign a 38year old centre-back for my under-23s because I want to form a mentoring group around him for my younger players (just like Manchester United did with Paul McShane last summer) or I might sign a 17 year old left back for my under-18s because I didn't have any left backs in my youth intake and I want to make sure the really promising centre-back who came through doesn't keep being played out of position.

The only annoyance with doing this comes under the 'Vision' screen and the fans reaction to transfers as they don't differentiate between what squads my player's have been signed for. That means I get lots of F ratings for signing and the fans are baffled as to why I've signed these players.

When signing players it would be good to add a drop down box, probably in the contract offer screen, to specify which squad they are being signed for. Under the hood, signing a player for anything other than the first team would mean it is ignored by the fans unless they are a high potential player (let's be honest, how many fans keep up to date with youth team signings? I'm sure some Man U fans don't even know Paul McShane is now at their club!). When negotiation the contract you already have the drop down box for 'Playing Time' and I'd propose another drop down box beneath that which says which squad they will be in. I think they are linked but separate because while you would only offer 'Star Player' to somebody in your First-team you could have a Fringe Player or breakthrough prospect in the First-team or the under-23s.