Usually throwing in a bit more in salary will get them to get off the highest earner clause. Though I've managed to get people to sign by removing the clause and not balancing it out.
Started a new game with West Brom, but I'll be honest I've cheated to give myself another 20-25 mil in the pot to sign players. This is also with the free agent (and no work permits) databases I made. I don't know how the hell I did it, but I got Lionel Messi to sign for me (I did not touch the reputation of the club, which stands at 5900). Paying him about 18 mil US a season, but he couldn't help enough for us to win our opener.
Lost to Wolves 1-0 despite dominating the game, we couldn't put any shots on target. Didn't help that the ref gifted Wolves a penalty, when Otamendi took Kevin Davies down in the box (I complained about the call in the post-match presser, FA was silent). Of course, Davies put the penalty away, and we lost.
Rebounded nicely with a 4-1 win @ Manchester United, who despite thrashing Fulham 8-0 in their first game are having pretty big injury problems.
Might start a LLM game without the free agent DB. Never tried managing in the Conference and I wanna actually try and play a game without cheating
Current Lineup (4-2-4 variant)
GK - Fernando Muslera
DL - Gabriel Silva
DCL - Benedikt Howedes
DCR - Nicolas Otamendi
DR - Tomas Kalas (Haven't been able to get the best young right backs, but Kalas has potential)
DMCR - Eyong Enoh
MCL - Alan Patrick
AML - Zezinho
AMR - Keko
STCR - Alexandre Pato
STCL - Hulk
Injured: Lionel Messi (2-3 weeks with Twisted Knee suffered vs United), Ahmed Khalil (Fractured wrist in pre-season, will definitely miss our Carling Cup clash with Peterborough, but could be available for the next Premier League match)