Where players come from
Five routes bring a player into your squad, and the founding squad is a sixth that happens once. Each route fixes his OVR, his age and his nationality in its own way.
The founding squad#
22 players, each OVR 200 to 300 and 5,000 OVR between them, all on 80% energy: 2 goalkeepers, 2 left-backs, 4 centre-backs, 2 right-backs, 2 left midfielders, 4 central midfielders, 2 right midfielders and 4 strikers. Their ages are fixed rather than rolled:
| Age | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Four in the youngest band, ten in the middle one, six in the oldest — nobody older than 30, so nobody is marked to retire in your first season.
The five routes#
| Route | OVR | Age | Position | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transfers | 250 to 350 | 18 to 30, weighted 25% / 60% / 15% by band | Any of the 14, as listed | Auction from the player's value in Balance or Gems; Blitz at 3× |
| Store packs | 200 (free Welcome), 300 (Medium, Large), 400 (Extra) | 18 (free), 22 (paid) | Fixed per pack | Free, or real money |
| Crafting | 300, 400, 500, 650, 800, 925 by tier | 22, 23 or 24, your choice | Your choice of 14 | 275 to 4,800 |
| Refining | 300, 400, 500, 650, 800, 925 by formula | Average of the three consumed, 18 to 32 | Drawn from the three, or named for 5 to 40 Gems | 50,000 to 700,000 or 10 to 155, plus three players |
| Youth Academy | 200 to 345 by Scout tier | 18 | Your choice of 14 | A search of 480 hours at level 1, 120 at level 20; 1 to 5 talents a season |
A sixth arrival needs no decision: if a club is under 18 players or under 2 goalkeepers when the season turns over, the game adds OVR 100 fillers aged 18 to 27.
Nationality#
Every player carries a nationality from the game's 32 countries — England, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Scotland, Croatia, Austria, Ukraine, Poland, Turkey, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Morocco, Senegal, Nigeria, the USA, Mexico, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Australia. The founding squad, transfer lots and season fillers get one at random, each country equally likely; academy talents, crafted and refined players and pack players take the country your division sits in. It decides the player's name, which is drawn from that country's name pool, and nothing else: nationality is cosmetic. It has no effect on the pitch, on the market or in the stands.
See also Age & retirement and Economy