I ran into a similar issue with VMWare Server. The trick is taking it beyond what VMWare wants you to do. My issue was adding more VLANs. Not sure this will help in your situation.
Let me know if you want the info on how to do that.
Otherwise, I you will probably need to look into the Virtual Network Editor (I believe that also exists in VM Player). Also, take a look at the following file:
C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware Server
etmap.conf
Just open it up with notepad and have a look. Here is the readable version of what I put in mine:
# This file is automatically generated.
# Hand-editing this file is not recommended.
network0.name = "Bridged999"
network0.device = "vmnet0"
network1.name = "Bridged600"
network1.device = "vmnet1"
network2.name = "Bridged601"
network2.device = "vmnet2"
This corresponds to what I setup in Virtual Network Editor (don't forget to run-as administrator when opening it). Attached is how my setup looks in VNE. Then, after restarting, in the VM Setup in VMWare Server, I can now choose Bridged999, Bridged600, or Bridged601 as the network adapter. Though I guess I removed the 601 Adapter (see attached image).
Hope this helps.