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I'm not sure of all the intricacies of how it works, but indeed, each club has access to a list of all the players who are listed for loan, listed for transfer or are out of contract. It is then your choice whether to have the player you would like scouted or buy him 'blind' - in other words, without you or a scout seeing him play. Concerning other countries, I am fairly sure that throughout Europe the system is similar, though obviously some rules vary.
The search function will only bring you famous players and listed players in your region. Using the find function to find players you know about is what is banned.
The club probably doesn't publicise it, but i bet the players agent will, in the hope of getting a big move for his client, or just to generate intest to strengthen their position in negotiation for a new contract with the same club.
I wold say that the expiry date of most players' contracts would have to be public knowledge somewhere - otherwise how would you know whether you could negotiate for him on a Bosman basis or would have to offer to buy him?
And I had that Pierre Faux-Jouer in my Patraikos team for a couple of seasons - real diamond he was.
It's common knowledge which players are out of contract, coming out of contract, and unprotected IRL. Contract details like that have to be disclosed. So using the player search to find those players is not unrealistic. The only issue of debate is whether or not the "interested" filter is then permissable. I say yes because it simulates what a RL manager would find out after 1 phone call to an agent. Others say no because you wouldn't have the knowledge straight off. It comes down to what you see that filter doing.
Using the Player Search feature 
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