Budget and reservations
Why your spendable budget is lower than your total transfer budget.
Every club starts the game with a transfer budget of $20,000,000. But the number you can actually spend right now is usually lower than that, and reservations are why.
What gets reserved
Your available budget is your transfer budget minus everything already committed: your proxy maximum on every auction you currently lead, plus the cash committed on any direct offers you've sent that are still open. That money is set aside the moment you commit it, before it's actually spent.
Why it matters
A new bid or a new offer is rejected outright if your existing reservations plus the new commitment would push you over budget. There's no overdraft. The game won't let you promise money you don't have.
When money frees up
Reserved money is released the moment you're outbid, an auction closes without you winning, or an offer you sent is rejected, expires, or is countered. When you actually win an auction or an offer is accepted, the reserved amount simply becomes spent.