FC 25 97 Futties Ibarbo Player Review! Cop or Flop

Futties really is continuing with a bang! A little taster of the Tournament modes coming to FC26 has dropped today in the form of a daily knockout tournament. One of the prizes for working through this is a Futties Doumbia item. Of course, wherever Doumbia goes, Gervinho and Ibarbo follow shortly behind him.

So on that note, a Victor Ibarbo SBC has dropped and this man looks like an absolute machine. Of course, during FUT Birthday, Ibarbo, alongside the Fifa 14 deadly trio returned to the game with special hero items. So it was only fitting that we see these three return during Futties.

A +3 overall boost from his FUT Birthday item along with two additional Playstyle pluses in Powershot and Finesse. I hate to seem ungrateful but Powershot has been pretty useless for a number of months now so this feels like a slightly wasted playstyle plus for him. No matter how fitting it might be. He’s 5*/5* as well which is a huge bonus. Has all the roles you might possibly want and doesn’t look like too much of a grind to complete.

Chemstyles are a little irrelevant at this stage with most stats being near maxed out. But I think if you were to go with any, it would be the Marksman. Keeps him “Controlled Lengthy” and grants some boosts in the right areas.

Here are the following segments to unlock the Futties Hero Ibarbo SBC:

Serie A

# of players from Serie A: Min 1

TOTW/TOTS Players: Min 1

Squad Rating: Min 88

# of players in squad: 11

Portugal

# of players from Portugal: Min 1

TOTW Players: Min 1

Squad Rating: Min 85

# of players in squad: 11

89-Rated Squad

Squad Rating: Min 89

# of players in squad: 11

Top Form

TOTW/TOTS Players: Min 1

Squad Rating: Min 90

# of players in squad: 11

91-Rated Squad

Squad Rating: Min 91

# of players in squad: 11

92-Rated Squad

Squad Rating: Min 92

# of players in squad: 11

92-Rated Squad

Squad Rating: Min 92

# of players in squad: 11

93-Rated Squad

Squad Rating: Min 93

# of players in squad: 11

Only 7 segments in total to complete which certainly is refreshing from some of these 10+ segment SBCs. But we’ve said it enough through this promo now. At this point the price doesn’t matter. Fodder is infinitely attainable so it’s all down to whether or not this item performs well in-game. However, him being around the same price as his FUT Birthday item is a nice touch.

How did he perform in-game?

+ His shooting certainly has had a decent upgrade; having Trivela and Finesse helps him fit that wide attacking role well. Get him on the outside of the box with enough space, and he will easily send it to the back of the net.

+ Of course, we can’t discuss an Ibarbo item without the strength. The man is a machine that simply cannot be stopped. He’s a brute attacker who forces his way through defenders.

+ Another slight boost in pace edges him closer to that desirable 99 pace stat. He was absolutely rapid when running on the edge of the field with the ball.

+ Positionally, he was solid too, whether you play him in his default wing position or place him at striker. He constantly presses forward, helping with the build-up play. Then he gets into the perfect space to flex his shooting abilities.

/ His dribbling was okay but his body type had a real negative effect on how agile he was on the ball. Fortunately, you can rely on his strength because he does feel quite clunky when trying to make fast ball movements.

Ibarbo - Cop or Flop?

Ibarbo is a unique item that’s for sure. Filled with such nostalgia, you almost can’t help but love this card. We are at the point now where the main thing that matters is that the playstyles pair up well to absolutely max out your line up and for me the Playstyles were the main thing to let this card down.

He’s great in-game, but the Powershot is so pointless. I don’t even need it to be the Low-Driven, just anything other than this. But despite all that, this isn’t a crazy expensive card and certainly will be a great card to add to the collection at this stage. He may not be an “elite” item to play with in-game but this one of course, is worth the pickup if you aren’t currently grinding through other player SBCs.

Verdict = COP