EA Sports revealed the Top 100 player ratings on FIFA 21 yesterday.
Ahead of its release on 6 October, the rankings are sure to create much debate and controversy online.
As ever, Manchester United players are generating interest as four of them find themselves in the best 100.
Here is a look at how those four rank, any harsh omissions and and our analysis.
Bruno Fernandes – 87
Bruno Fernandes transformed United last season and unsurprisingly, he is our highest-rated player on FIFA’s newest iteration.
That’s a boost from 85 last season, which likely reflects the way he’s done the business at the biggest club in the world, stepping up expertly from Portuguese domestic football.
There are only two Premier League midfielders ranked higher; PFA Player of the Year Kevin de Bruyne and former winner N’Golo Kante, who is perhaps fortunate that an injury-hit season hasn’t affected his rating (88) more harshly.
Paul Pogba – 86
Pogba’s rating has decreased from 88 last time around. That’s a reflection of an injury-affected and inconsistent season.
It also perhaps reflects the way Bruno took over as United’s main man after his arrival.
The Frenchman’s rating is exactly the same as Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson, which won’t go down well in some quarters.
Henderson outperformed Pogba last season in terms of consistency, but with regards the technical and physical attributes best measured by FIFA, the Frenchman is streets ahead.
David de Gea – 86
De Gea was rated 89 on FIFA 20, and 91 on FIFA 19, so this latest ranking reflects his diminishing status.
He has gone from the undisputed best goalkeeper in the world to a very good one with more errors in him than Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would like.
For context, Alisson is rated 90 and Ederson is 88. De Gea has the ability to regain his standing – on peak form he’s better than both Brazilians – but must respond to the challenge of Dean Henderson this season.
United fans playing this year’s game won’t have quite such a reliable keeper to bail them out.
Marcus Rashford – 85
The jump from last year’s 83 to 85 comes on the back of Rashford’s most prolific ever season.
In the winter, it looked like he’d made the jump from inconsistent threat to attacking lynchpin but never got back to his very best after his January injury.
Sadio Mane is 90, Raheem Sterling 88 and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 87, which shows the little bit of extra consistency and constant threat he needs to add to his game to bridge the gap.
Martial harshly excluded
Anthony Martial’s season was just as good as Rashford’s – if not better – so a similar upgrade should have been given to the Frenchman.
Lorezno Insigne, Mauro Icardi, Romelu Lukaku and Jamie Vardy are some of the strikers who find themselves inside the Top 100, while Martial isn’t.
Any other points of interest for United fans? For the record, Jadon Sancho is rated 87…
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