MasterstrokeSquad building and management
Purse
The fixed pool of money a franchise can spend on players. Retentions come out of it first, and what is left has to buy a whole squad.
The purse is the total amount a franchise is allowed to spend on player salaries for a season, and therefore the most it can commit at the auction.
Every club starts with the same purse, set by the league. The cost of retained players is deducted before the auction begins, so a club that keeps its stars arrives with less to spend than one that has released everyone. From what remains, the club must fill its squad to the minimum size, which means the purse per remaining slot is the number to watch. A club with 40 crore left and twelve places to fill cannot afford a 15-crore bid, however good the player, unless it is happy to fill the rest with base-price signings.
The purse is also why the auction rewards patience. Rivals who spend early are removed from later bidding, and the clubs with money left at the end of the day pick up quality players with no one to bid against. Purse left over is not carried into the next season, so there is no prize for thrift, only for spending well.
In Masterstroke: each club's remaining purse is on the auction screen next to the current bid, so you can see who can still afford to fight you for the next lot.