The TOTY has flushed quite a few obvious top objects into FIFA 22 Ultimate Team (FUT) – perhaps the best card has gone to an underdog.
One team part obviously falls off in the Team of the Year (TOTY) in terms of overall rating: the two full-back positions. While the four attackers have an average overall rating of 97.5, the three midfielders (96.33) and the two centre-backs (96) are only just below.
The situation is much worse for the right and left defenders. They have a combined rating of 93.5.
Achraf Hakimi is the superficially weakest TOTY player with 93 points, Joao Cancelo follows with 94 points. However, the Portuguese left-back in particular, who also regularly plays on the right at Manchester City, is thus massively undervalued. Cancelo is actually probably the most attractive object in the TOTY.
Shooting 85 to end the attributes
The 27-year-old’s contract with the “Citizens” was extended until 2027 just a few days ago, and coach Pep Guardiola knows the importance of his defender. It is not only on the island that Cancelo’s versatility is valued and feared. This same variability is also impressive in FUT 22.
Among the basic attributes, there are four values that crack the 90 mark: speed (95), dribbling (93), passing (91) and defence (90). Physicality (87) drops slightly, shooting (85) brings up the rear – not a surprising distribution for an outside defender. But even the shot is stronger than it appears.
More flexible than any other TOTY player
Massively dragged down the attribute by the scores for penalties (55) and volleys (74), even finishing (81) still moves into the 80 range. The flexibility that Cancelo’s TOTY card displays in FUT 22 has meanwhile also been noticed by the players. The Portuguese is virtually used in almost all positions.
Whether – as intended – on the defensive flanks, in the defensive centre, in midfield, the attacking wings or even as a centre forward. Cancelo shines in all the roles that can be attributed to him. The same cannot be said of Kylian Mbappé or Lionel Messi.
Not even a fifth of CR7’s cost
Cancelo, however, can call another decisive advantage his own: The defensive specialist of the “Skyblues” is relatively inexpensive to acquire. With a market value of between 810,000 and 890,000 coins on the consoles, he is the third cheapest TOTY player after Hakimi and Gianluigi Donnarumma.
That this price is nevertheless a big hurdle for most FUT fans is obvious. However, it is not comparable to, say, Cristiano Ronaldo (around 5.2 million coins) as the 12th man or Kylian Mbappé (around 5.03 million coins). Cancelo should have a dominant impact on the meta as the season progresses.
