In-game, players of Football Manager 2017 will be alerted at some point between two and 10 years in that trade negotiations have begun, and a year later a news bulletin will detail the extent of Brexit. There are three main scenarios:
- Soft Brexit - free movement of workers remains.
- Footballers are granted the same special exemptions that are currently given to ‘entertainers’. This means it is easier for them to obtain work permits than other people, and it will not have a huge impact on player movement from the EU.
- Hard Brexit: similar rules to those which currently apply to non-EU players are adopted for all non-UK players.
It is this third option that would see the biggest effect on gameplay.