Football Manager director Miles Jacobson has revealed just how much of a role agents play in the upcoming FM23.

The new game is officially out, releasing on November 8th, and hitting various storefronts, including the PC and Xbox, although it has been delayed on PS5.

Sports Interactive has announced a huge suite of new features, with the most headline-grabbing perhaps being the acquisition of the UEFA licence, meaning that the Champions League, Europa League, Europa Conference League and Super Cup are all faithfully recreated in the game.

There has also been a revamp of recruitment, and that has placed agents front and centre for the new game.

And Jacobson has now revealed that the intermediaries in the game can have a major role to play in your transfer plans.

Jacobson lifts lid on role of agents in FM23

Football Manager 2023 Squad Planner

On the Football Manager website, they explain that agents are involved in much more gameplay areas this year as opposed to FM22.

You will essentially need to discuss deals with the agents of players before making a formal bid to the club that they play for.

That is much more realistic when compared with real life and Miles has gone in-depth with GiveMeSport, explaining how agents can play a major role for players you’re trying to sign, as well as those who are already on the books at your club.

He exclusively told us: “They are an important part of football, and we've had limited interaction with agents in the past in the game. But if you aren't dealing with agents in real life, then you're not going to get players, but we see the agents in-game as being able to help you rather than hinder you because there's nothing worse than having a conversation with a player in the game and they react badly to what you say and then you're in trouble after that point.

Read More: Football Manager 2023: Release Date, Trailer and Everything We Know So Far

“Whereas if you're talking to the agent directly, the players are less likely to get upset, because you're not having that conversation with them directly. But it helps steer you in the right direction with the agents, it helps prepare you for what's going on. So, if you've got a player who is genuinely not interested in signing a new contract, at any point, find out from the agent, and then being able to make moves to get rid of that player is just as important as being able to sign new players. But it also gives you the possibility to persuade a little bit, which hasn't been there before.

“So being able to find out what it will take for a player to be interested in joining you is one of the tiers that we have in there. So, if a player would join you, if you got into Europe, then at least you know that you can maybe go back for that player next year if you manage to sneak in there. So it's a really useful system to have in-game. It can be a lot of fun. But it also lets you plan better. And planning is a big theme of this year with the squad planner that you mentioned earlier as well. In that, it wasn't possible before for you to say bid for five players for one position, and then see which one you wanted to buy.

“It's still not possible to do that. But you can ask the agent of five different players and then decide which one you're going to move forward with from that point. And get a better understanding of what the other club is going to be looking for as well for the player so that you can plan your transfers more effectively.”


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