One question we're asked regularly is: "How can I work out a 'fair' price to pay for the players that I buy?"

Assuming the player you're looking to buy isn't a free transfer, his 'fair market value' will be the middle choice out of the first set of bidding options you're shown.

So from there it's up to you whether you want to offer that middle value, bid higher, or try to pick up a bargain by bidding lower.

But one thing to bear in mind is that just like real life, a player doesn't actually have a fixed value. What a player is worth depends on lots of different factors: his skill rating, his age, how he's been performing, whether he's in the first team or reserves, how long is left on his contract and so on.

So if you do pay the middle price for a player you buy, that doesn't mean his value will still be the same once he gets to your club.

His "value" is really just how much another club is prepared to pay for him - or how much you are prepared to pay, if you're the one doing the buying.

That's why one of the main skills in the game is spotting players who you think are good value for your club.

There are a couple of ways of looking at this.

Firstly, you might be looking at a player as a financial investment, and you'd like his value to increase so you can sell him for a profit.

In this case you're probably going to be looking for young players who will improve, or good players available on a free transfer.

But there will be times when a new signing will add value to your club, even if the player himself is a bad financial investment.

Imagine it's the last week of the transfer window and you're desperate for a new striker. Your manager suggests a 32 year-old who would be an automatic first-team choice.

You might pay over the odds to make sure you sign him, even though he's not going to have much re-sale value, and in a couple of years time you could be releasing him on a free transfer.

But if that striker is the difference between winning promotion or just missing out, then he will have been worth the money you spent.