So maybe take Perpete's advice and just pay the floor and be happy with 100~200k beyond costs you'll make weekly anyway.
What type of advice is that, really? If the environment does not allow to compete in the higher league, we don't need to discuss if tanking is an issue, if it is a way of playing the game that is seemingly forced upon managers.
I am shopping for an older guy to close the gap and see where I will end up in the next few weeks - possibly the lost skills won't hurt as much as I expect. Maybe a good chunk of money from a rookie sale comes in, who knows....
Größter Knecht aller Zeiten aka His Excellency aka President for Life aka Field Marshal Al Hadji aka Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas aka aka Conqueror of the Buzzerbeater Empire in Europe in General and Austria in Particular