I agree the Contract length is a problem since I think it should run from the day after it was due to expire. eg if I want to renew my players contracts on Day 28 or the following Day 1 or up to Day 6 or whatever it should be the same term i.e. from Day 1. (I'm happy to pay a little bit extra on Day 28 or before to avoid the 2/3* replacements. )

My gut reaction to the signing on fee is that its a non-issue at lower levels and it's not actually the real issue at higher levels, where I suspect its the imbalance between MV and wages that causes a problem.

But, I'd like to see some numbers rather than guess.

Unfortunately, I need another player to complete a true picture with the numbers, but at my level (18) there is no real difference between renewing a young fast training OOC 5* player and selling him to buy an equivalent new one.

The cost of renewing the contracts of 5 players at my level is a significant amount (and I have) but it is no more significant than replacing them like for like.