Wages
How your squad's wage bill is worked out, when it is paid, and what it does to next season's budget.
Every player you hold earns a wage. Wages build up during the season and are paid in one go when the next season starts, out of the new season's budget. A big squad of good players costs real money, so every signing is a choice about next season too.
How a wage is set
A player's wage follows his scouted overall rating, the same estimate you see on his card, not the hidden true value. Each step up the scale costs a bit more than the last, so stars are expensive and squad players are cheap.
| Scouted overall | Wage per league match |
|---|---|
| 40 | about £4,900 |
| 50 | about £10,100 |
| 60 | about £20,800 |
| 70 | about £42,900 |
No player costs less than £1,000 a match. Your squad's wage bill is the sum of every player's wage, and it moves as their ratings move: a player who develops gets dearer, and one in decline gets cheaper.
When wages are paid
After every league match, each player you hold that day adds his wage to what the club owes. Friendlies cost nothing. Nothing leaves your transfer budget during the season: the whole amount is taken when the next season starts.
The Infrastructure page shows your current bill per league match, what you owe so far, and an estimate of next season's wages if your squad stays as it is. The season review shows what was actually paid.
Wages and your transfer budget
At the start of a season every club gets a new budget: the season grant, a placement bonus, and half of any unspent money carried over. The season's wages come off that total, and what is left is your transfer budget for the new season.
There is no debt. If the wages are more than the new budget, you start the season at zero and the rest is written off. Selling a player before the next match stops his wage straight away, and a player you sign starts earning from his first league match with you.
Junior leagues have no wages.