FIFA 18 is released this month and football fans cannot wait.
Ahead of the September 29 release date, EA Sports have been teasing fans by announcing the ratings of certain players, from the best 100 stars in the game to the 20 quickest players.
Cristiano Ronaldo retains his place as the highest-ranked player with a 94 rating, better than Lionel Messi’s 93, which isn’t entirely surprising given his terrific 2016-17 campaign.
Ronaldo outperforms the Argentinian in pace, shooting and physical stats, and also has 5* skill moves compared to Messi’s 4*.
And the Real Madrid star isn’t the only player who EA Sports consider to be more skilful than Messi.
Everyone who plays FIFA knows the importance of skill and pace and on Wednesday, the 39 players with 5* skill moves were announced.
The Liverpool flop who's more skilful than Messi
Among them was a Moroccan winger who used to play for Liverpool, although he hardly made a lasting impact in his time at Anfield.
Oussama Assaidi was signed by Brendan Rodgers in 2012 but managed just 12 appearances for the Reds before spending two spells out on loan at Stoke City and eventually moving to Al-Ahli in Dubai in a permanent deal nearly three years ago.
The 29-year-old is now playing in the Netherlands with Twente, where, despite only making five appearances last season, he’s clearly done enough to catch the eye of EA Sports.
Along with 5* skill moves, Assaidi has a 4* weak foot, 82 pace and 78 dribbling. Not bad at all.
What Rodgers said about Assaidi in 2012
Assaidi was Rodgers’ third signing as Liverpool boss and the Northern Irishman, now in charge of Celtic, was buzzing after he secured the signing in August, 2012.
"We're delighted with the signing, he's a young player who has done very well, in particular in the last couple of seasons, in Holland," Rodgers said, per The Guardian.
"He fits our style perfectly, he's an exciting player who is very good in one versus one situations and I think he's a player that will excite the crowd.”
Assaidi later hit out at Liverpool
If Assaidi really was an exciting player, Liverpool fans never saw it. He made just four Premier League appearances, all of which came as a substitute, and he would end up hitting out at the club’s transfer policy after sealing his move to Al-Ahli.
“To be honest I never got a fair chance at Liverpool. If you look at the games I played I don’t think I did that bad," Assaidi said, per the Liverpool Echo.
“I took a big step to go to Liverpool because they said I was a good player and would get a chance, but I didn’t get the chance.”
He’s clearly been grinding since that failed Liverpool spell. Catch up, Leo.