Mastering the transfer market
In previous articles we stressed the fact that Lords of Football is not a classic football management game. Since the very beginning of development our intentions were to create an easy to play game that could be enjoyed even by gamers who are not attracted by tables and numbers, without losing the depth of simulation. The transfer market is one of those features that defined football management games and it usually requires a lot of playing time and energy to master by dealing with both budgets and footballers' contracts. While designing this mechanic on Lords of Football we chose to automate part of its functionality, having more focus by underlining the importance of other aspects under your control. So, there is no money to manage, but you will still be able to mold your team according to your style.
The transfer market is divided into two different transfer windows, a summer one at the beginning of the season and a winter one in January. This is where you will be able to control all the available options through a single interface placed inside your club's “Main Office” . This interface is composed of three tabs: team analysis, inbound transfers and outbound ones. The first tab will help you to understand what are the weak and strong points of your current squads, and gives you the chance to analyse all the available formations, it will also help you in maximize your current players' strength.
The other two tabs are instead used to create a wish-list of inbound and outbound transfers that the president will follow during the market windows. You will not be able to ask for specific players, but you will be able to define the type of the players needed, defining key skills, roles and strength (regulars or substitutes) of all the players needed. Then, the president will sift the transfer lists looking for the best solutions for satisfying your requests and he will find a new club for the unwanted players. Dealing with the transfer market you will learn that sometimes you will need to sacrifice some of your best players in order to have a more effective inbound market. At the end, it's true that you have no money to manage, that's because we give that headache to the president, so you can continue to do the fun stuff.
