Player ratings, contracts, and retirement plans shift every year in FC 27, which opens the door to a nostalgic project in Manager Career: buying back the stars who once defined a club and rebuilding a prime-era squad. You cannot bring retired players out of retirement, but you can sign the ones who simply left and return them to their old home.
Quick answer: In Transfers & Scouting, choose Light for Negotiation Realism and Loose for Transfer Approaches, then pursue former players. Anyone who has retired is unavailable for a return, while loaned players and those marked “not for sale” generally require a wait until season two.
Set up your transfers before you start signing
Open Transfers & Scouting in your manager career before pursuing former favorites, then relax the deal settings. Put Negotiation Realism at Light and Transfer Approaches at Loose; this makes clubs much more open to discussions, which is important when a returning legend belongs to a larger team.
Most clubs on this list come with three restrictions. A player carrying a retiring status is entering the final contract year and cannot join you during the opening season. Loaned players remain at their temporary club until that spell finishes, requiring a full-season wait. Some others are labeled not for sale, so even a strong offer fails until the next campaign.
Retiring players sometimes renew or sign a new contract when the next season begins. If that happens, they become available to sign, but this depends on the simulation rather than anything you can force.
Real Madrid
| Player to sign | Estimated fee / status |
|---|---|
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Retiring |
| Luka Modrić | Retiring |
| Keylor Navas | Retiring |
| Jese Rodriguez | Retiring |
| Ángel Di María | Retiring |
| Álvaro Morata | On loan |
| Nacho Fernández | $3 million |
| Casemiro | $2 million |
| Isco | $1 million |
Real Madrid presents the toughest rebuild here, with many members of its consecutive Champions League-winning squads marked as retiring. During year one, Casemiro, Nacho Fernández, and Jese are available for negligible fees, while the biggest names cannot be reached at the outset.
The remaining outcomes are determined by luck. One simulation made Modrić and Isco available in season two, but Ronaldo, Di María, and Navas retired. Vázquez, Carvajal, Benzema, and Ramos are absent from the game as free agents, so rebuilding the entire star squad is impossible.
Tottenham
| Player to sign | Estimated fee / status |
|---|---|
| Son Heung-min | $15 million |
| Davinson Sánchez | $9 million |
| Kyle Walker-Peters | $5 million |
| Eric Dier | $4 million |
| Kieran Trippier | $2 million |
| Hugo Lloris | $0.3 million |
| Harry Kane | Not for sale (first year) |
| Moussa Sissoko | Retiring |
The target here is the 2018/2019 squad that reached the Champions League final under Mauricio Pochettino. Almost the entire spine is available and willing to return to London in your first season, with Hugo Lloris a bargain and Son the priciest of the achievable signings.
Harry Kane cannot be signed in your first year. Bayern Munich will not sell him and he shows no interest in a move back, so plan on waiting for a new season before making another approach. Moussa Sissoko is the only other holdout, sitting on the retiring list until he potentially renews. Lucas Moura would complete the picture, but the Brazilian league is absent from the game.
Juventus
| Player to sign | Estimated fee / status |
|---|---|
| Matthijs de Ligt | $95 million |
| Federico Chiesa | $35 million |
| Adrien Rabiot | $20 million |
| Rodrigo Bentancur | $18 million |
| Kingsley Coman | $15 million |
| Paulo Dybala | $8 million |
| Federico Bernardeschi | $3 million |
| Wojciech Szczęsny | $3 million |
| Paul Pogba | $2 million |
| Álvaro Morata | On loan |
| Martin Caceres | Retiring |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Retiring |
Juventus gives you nine achievable first-year signings, most at an affordable fee. The iconic defensive line of Chiellini, Bonucci, Barzagli, and Buffon is gone for good, but there is still a strong core to bring back to the Allianz Stadium.
Matthijs de Ligt is the most expensive target at $95 million, with Manchester United demanding a premium. Sell some stars or wait a few seasons for the price to fall. Chiesa, Rabiot, Dybala, and Coman are the standout returns of players who peaked in Turin, while Pogba, Bernardeschi, Bentancur, and Szczęsny are cheap first-year additions. Caceres and Ronaldo are retiring, and Morata must finish his loan before you can approach him.
Ajax
| Player to sign | Estimated fee / status |
|---|---|
| Matthijs de Ligt | $95 million |
| Ryan Gravenberch | $82 million |
| Frenkie de Jong | $52 million |
| Noussair Mazraoui | $24 million |
| David Neres | $20 million |
| Donny van de Beek | $4 million |
| Nicolás Tagliafico | $2 million |
| Dušan Tadić | $1 million |
| Andre Onana | On loan |
This is the 2018/2019 side that reached the Champions League semi-finals under Erik ten Hag. Kasper Dolberg and Daley Blind are already at the club, and most of the rest of that team can be approached in FC 27. Lasse Schöne has retired, and Hakim Ziyech is unreachable because he moved to a Brazilian club that the game does not include.
Secure Donny van de Beek, Dušan Tadić, and Nicolás Tagliafico early as inexpensive, straightforward additions. De Ligt, Gravenberch, and de Jong are far beyond an Ajax budget, so plan to develop them as a long-term project at about one signing each season. Andre Onana should be affordable, but his loan rules out any move during the first season.
Borussia Dortmund
| Player to sign | Estimated fee / status |
|---|---|
| Jude Bellingham | $199 million (first year blocked) |
| Ousmane Dembélé | $88 million (first year blocked) |
| Erling Haaland | Unknown (first year blocked) |
| Donyell Malen | $56 million |
| Christian Pulisic | $36 million |
| Matthias Ginter | $11 million |
| İlkay Gündoğan | $2 million |
| Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | $2 million |
| Mario Götze | $2 million |
| Robert Lewandowski | $1 million |
| Marco Reus | Retiring |
| Henrikh Mkhitaryan | Retiring |
| Axel Witsel | Retiring |
Dortmund has supplied European football with a steady line of stars, and former players can be recovered over several stages. İlkay Gündoğan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang each cost around $2 million or less; Robert Lewandowski and Mario Götze are similarly priced, so all four can join immediately in the first season without exceeding the budget.
The bigger names take patience. Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham, and Ousmane Dembélé cannot be signed in year one, since their clubs reject any approach outright. As they age over a few seasons, their prices drop and your chances improve. Christian Pulisic (around $36 million) and Donyell Malen (around $56 million) push past a first-year budget, so sell players or wait, while Matthias Ginter costs about $10 million. Marco Reus, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and Axel Witsel are all retiring and cannot be brought back.
How to know a rebuild is on track
A signing is complete once the returning player appears in your squad after accepting your bid and contract terms. For blocked or retiring targets, the check comes at the start of the next season: reopen the transfer hub and see whether a retiring player has renewed, a loaned player has returned to his parent club, or a not-for-sale player will finally negotiate. Treat the expensive superstars as a multi-season plan, revisiting their price each summer as it falls.
