Abdallah Sima. 40,300,001 SVC. Two clubs bid exactly that, and Lyon got him.

Leverkusen, Lyon, Brentford and Union all bid for the 82-rated Novi Pazar forward. Union were first to 40,300,001, at 00:31 UTC on Friday. Lyon matched it at Saturday lunchtime. The agent-decision rules say the agent picks from every club that matched the top bid. If he doesn't pick, the player goes to whoever got there first. That was Union. Sima signed for Lyon at 13:17 on Sunday.

Sima's agent is klo. He is also Lyon's biggest shareholder, with 15,058 influence. Doing that is within the rules, and tyki said as much in general-chat on Friday:

But if he is that important to you, then just become his agent, match the highest bid and send him to your club.

That's what happened in three of Sunday's four biggest deals.

The pattern

• Emmanuel Fernandez (79, CB, 24) joined Marseille from CC Rosario for 34.78M. Marseille opened at the 25M minimum. Spanish top-flight side Roda bid 34,784,235 at 14:05 on Saturday, exactly 12 times his value. Marseille matched it 39 minutes later and got him. His agent, LeTemile, is Marseille's biggest shareholder with 18,626. ElChapito's side are second in FRA Division 1.
• Ibrahim Diabate (79, FC, 26) joined Porto Alegre Blue from Reims for 28.18M. Reims listed him at 07:47:42 on Saturday, and Porto Alegre Blue bid the 12x maximum 31 seconds later. Nobody else bid. xayagaming is Porto Alegre Blue's manager, their top shareholder and Diabate's agent. They had sold Rodrigo Ely (83) to Derby for 31.05M 33 minutes before that bid.
• Tammy Bakumo-Abraham (80, FC, 29) is the odd one out. Here it was the selling club that had the agent link: Porto's manager, SoccerversePortugal, is also his agent. Porto listed him at 27.38M in September and got no sale. On Saturday they relisted him at 6.28M. Frankfurt bid that within a minute. Seventy-two minutes later, Foxtrot's Southampton bid 27.38M, which is 12 times his value. Southampton are fourth in ENG Division 2.

Lyon's 153M Friday

Lyon could afford Sima, love. At 20:23 on Friday Edon Zhegrova (87, 27) went to Beograd Red for 65M. Thirty-six minutes later Pablo Pagis (84, 23) went to UANL for 96.16M, exactly 12 times his value and the biggest fee of the week. Lyon's balance sheet shows 153.1M received, which is 95% of the 161.2M in headline fees. After paying for Sima, KloV2's side still have 143.3M in the bank. They are 11th in FRA Division 1.

Twelve times, over and over

Plenty of other fees landed on the 12x ceiling. Gateshead paid 8.03M for Hasan Acar (75, 31). Miranda de Ebro paid 4.30M for Eirik Hestad (71, 31) and gave him a four-season contract five minutes later. Novi Pazar had just banked Lyon's money, and that evening maxpower's side paid 4.82M for David Contreras Angulo and 2.08M for Thomas Mayer, both rated 67. Every one of those five fees was exactly 12 times the player's value.

Treatment room

• Lens. Brice Samba, their 91-rated goalkeeper, is out for 64 days. He's due back on 3 January and the season ends on 2 January. The next keeper is Lucas Bergström, rated 69, followed by 43-year-old David Kempeneer, rated 51. Hazart's side are 10th.
• Annecy. Roberto Gagliardini (81), on loan from Estoril, is out until 1 January. Ralek3's side are bottom of FRA Division 1.
• Glasgow Blue. Akoua Amané (82, 23) is out until 20 December.
• Lecce. Centre-back Federico Baschirotto (81) is out until 18 December.
• Feyenoord. In-Beom Hwang (81) is out until 13 December.
• Grimsby and Bristol Blue. Harvey Rodgers (92 days) and Clinton Mola (87 days) both have major injuries and won't play again this season.

Managers on the move

• Daviola took the Bochum job on 26 October and resigned on the 29th. On Friday he was appointed at Lecce, 45 seconds after caaspin resigned there.
• Milando was named Reggio nell'Emilia manager at 03:31 on Sunday and resigned at 03:40. He was running Crosby 16 minutes later. Reggio, already 254K in the red, appointed McflyChill at 13:13.
• Payzz was named Cannes manager at 13:18 and Tochigi manager at 14:21. Cannes appointed JoseAntonio at 15:42.
• CoolQas lasted five hours and 20 minutes at Egestorf, then took over at Saumur ten minutes later.

Rich list

Wolverhampton are still the richest club at 388.0M. Suva Reka are furthest in the red at −2.72M.

The bid histories show what to watch. Twice on Sunday the club that matched the top bid second got the player, and both times the agent was that club's biggest shareholder. Clubs that bid first should check who the agent is before assuming the player is theirs.