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Player Review

90 - Icon
4.5
Honest Review of Prime Michael Essien (Presence)
By Duckzworth, 12-02-2020

My honest review of prime Michael Essien. As soon as I saw that he was in icon swaps 2 for 23 tokens, I instantly decided the I was going to grind for him. He was the type of player I desperately needed at the time as I was lacking a rock in midfield. I started having my doubts though when I realized how long it would be before I was able to unlock him, and if he would be worth the effort. After changing who I was going to pick for swaps about a million times, I’m glad to say that I made the right decision by going the distance to pick him. He is a beast.


The thing about Essien is that he’s not particularly special, he doesn’t have the technical gifts that other midfielders possess, and he’s definitely not the most graceful player on the pitch. However, the fact of the matter is that this dude is an absolute animal. He does all the dirty work that you expect your CDM to do…..and then some. The guy is an absolute savage. The amount of times I’ve seen him bully people off the ball and not get called for a foul is ridiculous. He’s also incredible at breaking up play with his interceptions, very similar to Kante in some respects, but he feels like he has a more imposing presence than regular Kante does. I tried an engine on Essien which was good, but in my opinion he thrived with the artist chem style. After I applied that chem I immediately noticed the difference with his more boosted agility, and it definitely helps his passing a lot more which was very useful.


Is he worth the 1.7mil he’s currently going for on the market? I would say probably not as there are a lot of cards on the market at this stage of FIFA that offer what Essien does for a more reasonable price. However, in regards to icon swaps, I think he is clearly the best choice (depending on your team needs of course). He’s now my starting CDM until at least TOTS, and if not the rest of FIFA 20.


  • Speed
  • Physically imposing
  • Has a presence on the pitch
  • Strong defensive stats
  • Intercepts and breaks up plays
  • End game quality
  • High/high work rates
  • Finishing (hoping to bang a longshot with him one day)
  • Value for coins compared to other CDM's on the market


Formation: 4231
Position: CDM
Games: 22
GPG: 0.00
APG: 0.23
4.5
Overall
3.5
Value
4.5
GC
5.0
Stamina
Pace (8/10)
Shooting (5/10)
Passing (7/10)
Dribbling (8/10)
Defending (10/10)
Physicality (10/10)
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Other Michael Essien Reviews

The bulldozer

This is the best card (midfielder) i have ever used , he is amazing. if you have the tokens for icons swap i would highly recommend. this card is about 10x better than Kante. He wins everything. i use him in a two cdm formation with Prime Roy Keane. He bully's people off the ball , he's super quick and he has insane passing. there are no cons with this card , and he can also rip a long shot.
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Best CDM I've used

This guy has it all. I've used 86 and 88 Vieira, 85 Blanc, 91 Zidane, but Essien offers such a well rounded game compared to any of these.
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Essien? Yes, He Can!

Well, after grinding so hard and feeling like I lost about 6 years of my life due to a combination of stress and what I can only describe as an 'almost heart attack', I finally had enough swap cards to redeem Prime Essien! OH BOY!!!!!After playing 30 FUT Champs games with this card, I'm left EXTREMELY pleased with my Icon Swaps choice. I normally finish between Gold 1 and Elite 3 and am a Div 2 Rivals play...
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