A new home for your Recruitment needs
FM26’s overhauled UI is all about clarity without compromise, making everything simpler to use and more intuitive to navigate. For scouting and transfers, that meant consolidating what used to be multiple different areas of the game into one Recruitment hub within our navigation bar.
The new Recruitment home screen contains some tiles that will be familiar to returning players but also some smart additions that make it much easier for you to prioritise and plan effectively in every save.

The new Recruitment Objectives tile, for example, gives you a quick snapshot of what your board and fans are expecting you to deliver in the transfer market.
Your immediate needs have been made more obvious, with a direct link to the Squad Planner that identifies any depth issues, giving you quicker insight into where you should focus your attention.
Staying on top of player contracts isn’t always an easy task but there’s a new visual cue to help here. The contracts tile shows the breakdown of contract lengths across the squad and immediately surfaces those players with less than 12 months left on their deal, so you know exactly where you need to prioritise either renegotiation or scouting for replacements.

Recruitment isn’t just about players, though. You’ll also find that in the sub-menu of this section you’ve got all the tools you need for shaping your backroom team.
New transfer tools, powered by TransferRoom
FM26’s two biggest recruitment additions, powered by our partners at TransferRoom, can be found in the overview screen.
TransferRoom is football’s online transfer marketplace, a digital platform where clubs are able to simply and directly communicate their recruitment needs and desires with other clubs.
We began our collaboration with them in FM24 by giving you the option to offer your players for sale via TransferRoom. That’s still there but their integration has levelled up in FM26 with the addition of two new features modelled on the real-life functionality they provide to clubs around the world – Requirements and Pitch Opportunities.
Let’s focus first on Requirements, as these are there to give you a more realistic and authentic experience when it comes to buying players. These are essentially a way for you to communicate directly with every other club in your game world and outline your specific requirements in the transfer market.
When creating an advert, you can specify what position you’re looking for and the sort of player roles you’re interested in - for both In and Out of Possession.
You can also set an expected playing time, from a star player right through to someone that’s coming in to provide squad depth, as well as the type of transfer and age profile you’re looking for.

From there, your ad will be circulated to every club in the game, and they’ll have the ability to come back to you with players they have that might fit your needs. Your Director of Football will make recommendations to you based on what the clubs come back to you with, with you then able to approach their agent, scout the player for yourself, make an offer or wait for more options to arise.
Simply put, Requirements streamline the incoming recruitment process for you by allowing you to express your needs directly and giving you a clear insight into what options might be available in the market.
Bringing new players in often means letting some go and that’s where Pitch Opportunities come in. These are the direct counterpart of Requirements, allowing you to see what other clubs in your game world are looking for in the transfer market.
Opening the TransferRoom Out card allows you to see Requirements that other clubs have put out, with the exact same detail regarding position, role, playing time and so on. You can filter these by both transfer and loan ads and if you find something that you think matches someone in your squad that’s surplus to requirements, you can directly offer them to the club. Simple as that.
The Pitch Activity tab allows you to easily keep track of everyone you’ve offered out, as well as any transfer bids that come back your way.
You’ll still receive bids independent of Pitch Opportunities and can still offer players directly to clubs through their Player Report.
However, Pitch Opportunities give you more autonomy and choice when approaching player sales and by directly exposing the needs of other teams in your game world, makes it easier for you to find deals and shape your squad the way you want to.
Ultimately, the introduction of both Requirements and Pitch Opportunities change the way you interact with the transfer market in FM26 beyond, allowing you to get more of what you want while having to be less hands-on all the time.
Smarter Scouting
The ability to use the new In and Out of Possession functionality in your Recruitment isn’t limited to TransferRoom.
You can use In and Out of Possession roles in Recruitment Focuses and general scouting searches in-game, with a new colour-coding functionality making it easier for you to keep track of how many active Focuses you have at any one time.
The scout reports and advice you receive are smarter too, as your backroom team will now let you know whether a player you’re looking at is a natural fit with the formations you’re currently using.
There’s more under the hood changes too waiting for you to discover, all designed elevate your recruitment experience and increase the realism of how your rivals behave. These improvements and tweaks include but are not limited to:
- Changes to how clubs sign younger players to satisfy Club Visions
- Further tweaks to AI squad building
- FFP having more of an impact on AI recruitment
- New transfer clauses for individual player awards
- Better logic surrounding preferred positions in loan negotiations
- More loans with future fees and buyback clauses
- Improvements to when and why AI clubs recall players from loans early

FM26 delivers several new signings in the Recruitment department. From a more intuitive menu that gives you better oversight to two new TransferRoom-powered tools, you’re primed for enhanced squad-building season after season.
FM26 changes the transfer market. It’s over to you to change the game.
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