[Ultimate Team Controvers]

The door is closing on the storybook known as FIFA 23. In fact, the door is closing on the video game franchise known as FIFA in its entirety. At least for now anyway.  Last summer, it was announced that EA Sports and FIFA, world football’s governing body, were unable to come to terms on a new rights deal. It was thought that FIFA President Gianni Infantino was seeking $1bn for a new four-year deal, a price that the powers that be in EA’s headquarters in California were simply unwilling to pay. The result? After over three decades, EA Sports and FIFA’s partnership is now over.

Both parties look set to be going their own ways. EA Sports have ensured that their beloved video game franchise will live on under the name EA Sports FC. FIFA meanwhile has been searching for a new partner for the last 12 months however, as of right now, no new deals have been made.

But as this is the end for the franchise as we know it, it's safe to say that FIFA 23 was a fitting game to bring the curtain down on the series. The gaming community universally commended EA Sports’ integration of the real-life 2022 FIFA World Cup into the game, while the inclusion of a supercharged soundtrack featuring the best ‘FIFA Songs’ of all time was a hit with gamers the world over. But before we look to the future, we must look to the past, specifically the creation of FIFA Ultimate Team.

Ultimate Team Controversy
Back in 2009, EA Sports introduced FUT into the beloved FIFA franchise, and it's safe to say that the game mode revolutionized the gaming world. The American company has come in for criticism over the years for the game mode's likeness to traditional casino games for real money. This is due to to the fact that players can buy ‘packs’ with cash in an attempt to strengthen their teams. However, gamers don’t know what they will get from their purchase just like punters playing online slot games, will they hit it big are end up empty-handed?

Despite the criticism though, FUT has raked in billions in extra revenue for EA Sports. And it has allowed them to sign money-spinning rights deals despite no longer being affiliated with FIFA. All the planet’s top football stars will feature on EA Sports FC 24, but who will be the best-rated player overall?

Kylian Mbappé

The leading candidate to be the best-rated player on the inaugural edition of EA Sports FC is Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappé. The 24-year-old attacker was the joint top-rated star on FIFA 23, alongside former teammate Lionel Messi, Balon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, playmaker supreme Kevin De Bruyne, and goal machine Robert Lewandowski. This fall, however, we expect him to take the outright top spot.

The primary reason for that was his scintillating displays in the recent FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The Frenchman led Les Bleus to a second consecutive World Cup final and he top-scored in the tournament by bagging eight goals in seven games, including a blistering hat trick in the final. In the end, though, he couldn’t stop Messi from etching his name into the history books as the greatest football player that's ever lived as he led his beloved Argentina to the famous gold trophy for the first time in 36 years.

Erling Haaland

Another man that may well be given the honor of being EA Sports FC’s first-ever top-rated player is Manchester City striker Erling Haaland. The Norwegian sensation has taken European football by storm since bursting onto the scene with Red Bull Salzburg a few years ago, and he shows no signs of slowing down. He would move from the Austrian outfit to Borussia Dortmund in January 2020 and proceeded to smash in 86 goals in 89 games in North Rhine-Westphalia.

But ever since his move to England last summer, he has soared to new heights. He scored the most goals in a single season in the history of the Premier League last term when he netted 36 goals in 35 games, tallying up a total of 52 goals in 53 games in all competitions. He also helped the Blues lift the UEFA Champions League for the first time in the club’s history, the very task he was brought to the Etihad Stadium to accomplish.

Last term, Pep Guardiola’s unstoppable winning machine became the second team in the history of English football to complete the vaunted treble, namely lifting the Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup. Without the goals of Haaland, that wouldn’t have been possible. Online bookmakers have made him the 3/1 second favorite for the Balon d’Or due to his exploits throughout the course of last season, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see him start next term as the top player on EA Sports FC.

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Posted: at 20-10-2023 09:07 AM (8 months ago) | Addicted Hero

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