Old Players; The Concept Needs To Be Re-Vamped

In the Netherlands, you usually retire from work at around 65 years of age to enjoy your pension and do whatever these people do. Play shuffle-board, visit their grand-children and what-not... I am also aware that a footballers active career is generally over as he passes the big 35... There are exceptions to that rule ofcourse, but most players end their active career at 35 or so.

In FM Live, a players date of retirement seems to be even sooner. At around 30, even the best of players are being discarded since they represent no real transfer value after this date. Their wages are generally high, as is their acquisition fee, due to their high reputation.

I do believe these players can be of value though. For starters, they possess brilliant mental and hidden stats, meaning they bring experience to a team, a much needed factor that is often underrated. These guys can captain a side through a rough period in a match without panicking.

The main problem however lies with their high wages and high acquisition fee. Well, and their declining physique... But the monetary issue is the main gripe most people have with older players. Now in my eyes, a combination of two ideas can solve this problem.

The first idea wasn't mine, it was Andy Potter's, who posted it on the SI fora.

Can we please have the option to sign a player on a contract only until the end of the current season, effectively a 0 season contract? I've a few veterans I'm interested in, but I'd only want them for a couple of weeks to get me through the rest of my league season - I definitely wouldn't want them beyond that. A "0 season contract" option would allow for emergency signings for a couple of weeks, without requiring a massive commitment beyond that in terms of wage or release fee.

The second idea was mentioned in the very same thread but has been an idea I discussed with Andy before. As soon as a player (of any age!) is without a club, his wage demand and acquisition fee should start to drop with say, 2% a day, dropping to a minimum of 50% of the original value.

These two ideas would make older players rather attractive as short term solutions too many teams, instead of meaning older players rot away on a free transfer for several seasons.