The transfer market is how clubs swap players. You can sell one of yours, buy someone else's, or sign a free agent. This page explains the rules and the most common reasons something fails.
Selling a player from your club
To sell a player, open their profile and use the Transfer action. You can list them as Available (anyone can bid) or as Not For Sale (you'll only consider direct offers).
Why can't I list this player? He's a "starter"
"Starter" in ESMO does not mean "starting five" or "first team". It means the player was created together with your club at the very beginning, and has never been transferred.
Starters can never be listed on the transfer market. They are bound to your club for their career. This is intentional and there is no way around it. If you want a clean squad, you have to grow a new generation of players through scouting and the transfer market, then let your starters age out or retire.
A player loses "starter" status the moment they get transferred to another club, even briefly. Any player you sign via the market or as a free agent is not a starter and can be re-sold later.
Is there a daily limit on how many players I can sell?
Yes. There's a cap on outgoing transfers per day. The counter resets at the daily reset (UTC midnight).
Buying a player
There are two ways to buy a non-free-agent: auctions and direct offers.
Auctions
When a player is listed as Available, the listing acts like an auction. You place a bid, other clubs may outbid you, and the highest bid at the deadline wins.
There is no fixed bid increment. Any amount above the current highest bid counts as a valid bid.
Auctions have a short grace period after the last bid. If someone bids right at the end, the timer extends so the auction does not snipe-close.
When the auction closes, the winning club's offer becomes a binding transfer. There is no follow-up acceptance step from the seller.
Direct offers
If a player is listed as Not For Sale, or even when they're Available, you can also send a direct transfer offer. The selling club then accepts, refuses, or counter-offers.
Is there a daily limit on signings?
Yes. Incoming transfers and free agent signings are each capped per day, on separate counters. Both reset at UTC midnight.
Free agents
Free agents are players without a club. You don't bid on them, you negotiate directly.
Finding free agents
Put one of your players on the Solo Queue task. They will occasionally run into free agents and add them to your Scouted Players list.
You can also encounter free agents by playing competitions or matchmaking against them.
Once scouted, you can find them under the Scouting screen.
How does negotiation work?
To sign a free agent (or to lock in a transfer with another club), you assign a player on your roster to the Contract Negotiation task. The negotiator works for a fixed period of in-game time. After that, you get a result: success, partial counter, or refusal.
Success depends on a mix of factors:
Your club's prestige and experience: the bigger the club, the easier the close.
The player's experience: higher-profile players are harder to convince.
The negotiator's communication skill: use a player with high communication for important deals.
Your club's reputation: a low-reputation club can get refused outright.
There's a cap on how many negotiations you can have running at the same time.
Roster size
Each game-mode roster has a maximum number of players. If you're at the cap, you cannot complete a transfer or signing until you sell, release, or retire someone.
FAQ
Why is the Sell / Transfer button greyed out?
Most common reasons:
The player is a starter (see above).
You've already hit your outgoing transfers cap for today.
The player is already in an active auction or transfer flow.
Why can't I bid on this player?
Usually one of:
Your roster is already at its cap (sell or release first).
You've already hit your incoming transfers cap for today.
You don't have enough money for the bid.
The auction has just closed (check the deadline).
Can I sign players from clubs that have gone inactive?
No. Players stay bound to their clubs even when the manager hasn't logged in for a while. There is no "abandoned club" mechanism that releases players to free agency.
Can I sign back a player I just sold?
Not immediately. There is an in-game cooldown between selling a player and signing them again, to discourage re-selling loops.
Where is the auction? Bring back the auction.
Auctions still exist. They are how the Available transfer listings work. When you tap a listed player and place an offer at or above the asking price, you enter the auction for that player. There is no separate "Auction Hall" page anymore: it's integrated into the player listing.
What can I do to improve my chances in a negotiation?
Pick your best communicator as the negotiator.
Grow your club's reputation and XP over time (win matches, finish well in competitions).
Target players whose experience level matches your club's standing. A small club won't sign a star.