Data Update Submission Process Thoughts

Wanted to give some thoughts on part of the Data Update Submission Process, and how I think it could be improved…

1. I think the form needs to include the Release Clause Section from the Pre-Game Editor, which is: Minimum Fee Release Clause; Minimum Fee Release Clause (Foreign Clubs); Minimum Fee Release Clause (Domestic Clubs); Minimum Fee Release Clause (Domestic Clubs in Higher Division); Minimum Fee Release Clause (Clubs in a Continental Competition); Minimum Fee Release Clause (Clubs in a Major Continental Competition); Relegation Release Clause; Non Promotion Release Clause — While I think they should all be hidden away with a checkbox that you have to tick first, I think its a necessary addition. Namely, because there are times when Release Clauses change, and not allowing them to be changed is a shame, because its one way that a gap between what the Data Update can provide and reality widens. An example being that, it is widely reported from a lot of different sources that alongside Lukaku's loan move to Roma, Chelsea and Lukaku have mutually agreed to change the terms of his contract to insert a roughly-£38M Minimum Fee Release Clause. Not having that Release Clause in the game would be a shame, because the AI for Chelsea is likely to demand more in the region of £70-90M.
    
2. I think the form needs to include the ability to change Squad Number and Preferred Squad Number — When a player moves to a new club, they often get a new Squad Number, allowing users to change this to reflect their new move would add an added touch of realism. From what I've seen of AI and Squad Numbers, they seem to respect Squad Numbers already in place, mostly.
    
3. I think the form needs to include the Extension Options from the Pre-Game Editor, which is: Contract Extension After Promotion; One-Year Extension After League Games (Final Season); One-Year Extension After League Games (Promoted Final Season); One-Year Extension After League Games (Avoid Relegation Final Season); Optional Contract Extension By Club — This is another situation where it would add more realism to include it, because there are situations in transfers where extensions might be part of the new deal (or in some cases, are unwittingly carried over from their previous deal); An example, as part of Leonardo Bonucci's proposed move to Union Berlin, its rumored that the deal could be a 1-Year Deal until June 2024, with Union Berlin having the option of a further year: If this were to be the case, there's no way currently to include that in the Data Update, from the Submitter's end.
    
4. I think the form needs to include parts of the Additional Clauses Section from the Pre-Game Editor, namely: Match Highest Earner Clause; Will Leave At End of Contract; Will Explore Options At End Of Contract — An example of this being Mbappe, it would make sense for him to have the Explore Options clause ticked, because it currently reflects the situation IRL with PSG and Mbappe. 

Also, could a mod move this into Pending, since the source is literally the player himself:
https://sortitoutsi.net/football-manager-data-update/person/48049834#submission_745460

Hey thanks alot for the feedback.

1. The main issues with release clauses is that they are often all hearsay and having people argue over them creates unnecessary drama. It's the same reason we don't include transfer fees or wages, a transfer is a simple approve/reject and forget. A financial figure will have people editing it multiple times over months creating huge workload for moderators. Having said that I have noticed some issues with Spain such as Bellingham having a weird release clause so it is on the todo list to require it for Spain (any other nation that requires it). But not with all the options like you're suggesting.
2. Similar with squad numbers, it could double the workload for moderators since most people won't know the squad number immediately when making a transfer, which means it will get added in later meaning moderators have to approve the transfer and then later approve the squad number. We would only do squad numbers if we automated them from a website like transfermarkt (which might be possible, but then is a big coding burden for me and i've got alot on at the moment!)
3. You answered your own question here by saying “It's rumoured that”. We can't be dealing with rumours or hearsay it's too much work to verify. Having said that we could have a single checkbox for “optional 1 year extension” because that is quite common and is often made as part of the announcement. But once again it adds workload for moderators. Popular easy to read websites like transfermarkt don't include details of such extensions, meaning it has to come from Tweets and articles which are often in foreign languages. The difference between verifying a submission against transfermarkt and against a foreign article is the difference between 5 seconds and 1-2 minutes. That's too great a burden to put on the moderation team.
4. We do already have leave at end of contract. But again this is just going to lead to arguments. How are you going to get thousands of people to agree on whether Mbappe should be “Leave at end of contract” or “Explore options at end of contract”? You won't, so it's used sparingly.

The biggest issues with the Data Update isn't to do with the forms or what can/can't be done technically. Behind the scenes I built a version that fully replicates the entire Pre Game Editor with every field. The issue is with how a moderation team can deal with the submissions. Each of your suggestions would make the data update better and more realistic but also destroy it because the moderation team would be overwhelmed and not enjoy it anymore. There's a huge difference between quickly eyeballing a page that says Lukaku is on loan at Roma and reading long articles to see what clauses or extensions are included, or thinking about Mbappe's personality and end of season ambitions.