FIFA 23 Path To Glory Christopher Nkunku Player Review

The votes were tallied and the choice was clear, Path to Glory Christopher Nkunku the easy winner despite being up against some very impressive World Cup Heroes.

Which FIFA 23 World Cup Player do you want @MaeNine_ to review next? 🧐

— FUTBIN (@FUTBIN) November 18, 2022

Before we dive into this review I just want to stop and point out the unfortunate injury that will keep Nkunku from perhaps creating his own legacy as a World Cup Hero. The Frenchman is certainly one of the players that truly deserved his spot in this year's tournament and has been in tremendous form for the better part of 4 years.

While the RB Leipzig superstar certainly deserved a better personal fate… the fate of his Path to Glory card now lies firmly in the hands of the French National Team, who have a growing list of concerns, but remain favorites to progress far into the tournament.

Diving into this review the price tag was steep and for a while looked like it might be difficult to pull off given Nkunku was extinct at 2 million coins for the better part of 24 hours. However, it was as if everyone could feel that this was not quite a 2 million coin card and the odd listing was not immediately sniped, lasting 10-15 minutes on the market before being snapped up.

The first struggle after getting Nkunku into the club came in the form of where to play him in the squad. There is really a bit of everything here in terms of statistics and in the end I chose to give you a bit of everything in terms of positioning. Nkunku was deployed as the ST, RAM, and box to box CDM in my 4-2-2-2 this weekend… all with varying degrees of success and failure.

I went for the HAWK chemistry style for the more attacking RAM and ST positions before changing to a SHADOW for the final midfield test. There was a lot to unpack from these 15 matches, so let's dive in. Christopher Nkunku was a massive part of my own clubs path to glory all Weekend League long in the following squad:

Starting Formation

In-Game Formation

Overall 

Rating: 8.5/10

Pace Rating: 9/10

Dribbling Rating: 9/10

Shooting Rating: 8/10

Passing Rating: 9/10

Physical Rating: 7/10

Defending Rating: 8/10

It is crazy to think, but you might recall that we have already reviewed Nkunku once this season, and the overall rating was the exact same.

In both cases Nkunku sits in a position where he is undoubtedly a quality card and the PTG version has an endless amount of statistics. But there are simply players that are more specialized in the positions you might want to use Nkunku.

An example would be in the attacking positions where Nkunku’s own countryman, Antoine Greizmann, has a PTG glory card himself that outstrips Nkunku in almost every important attacking category. Similarly, in the box to box position, PTG Frenkie De Jong offers more control and better passing in the middle of the pitch.

Main Statistics – Dribbling

Dribbling Rating: 9/10

Skills: ★★★★★

Trait: Flair

One area where Nkunku’s performance was without question came with the ball at his feet.  A lot has been made of the “meta shift” since the most recent patch addressed the dribbling-at-pace issue and currently has high dribbling cards flying around the pitch. 

The 92 DRIBBLING and 5 STAR SKILLS certainly puts Nkunku in the higher echelon of the top dribblers currently in the game and it was a key part of everything this card did well all weekend.

The FLAIR trait continues to be one of my personal favorites and it just feels like they all have that little something extra when on the ball. If you don’t believe in my Flair Trait Conspiracy… the 91 AGILITY, 93 BALANCE, & 91 BALL CONTROL are all tangible proof that this card produces wizardry in possession.

Value/Coins

Value/Coins Rating: 4.5/5

I had this review complete. Like completely done and turned in. And then I looked back at the price of this card and it was down 300k. So first I will offer my condolences to those that bought at 2 million, and second I had to slightly boost my Value/Coins rating.

I was originally going to say that if France wins the World Cup, it will turn out to be fantastic value. Winning the Quarter Final would also do the trick. But this is all a huge gamble. But I will say that at 1.6 million this card is starting to feel a lot better value.

Of course crazy things happen in the tournament style format and the growing injury list for France is not ideal. Dynamic cards are priced with the “what if” scenarios in mind… but at 2 million Nkunku felt like he was already priced at the level he should be when/if France wins their Round of 16 match… but now it looks way better.

There is the scary possibility looming when/if France wins their Quarter Final… At this point Nkunku will get his 5 STAR WEAK FOOT and will be starting to look eerily similar to 91 Johan Cruyff… and that will be a problem.  If this happens than his value will be insane… and to those that end up buying at the right time, I envy you already.

Good vs. Bad 

Good vs Bad Rating: 5/5

The real strength of this card at this point in time comes from the fact that it is so incredibly well-rounded.

+ Both the HAWK and SHADOW chemistry styles added an excellent boost to the pace of this card. He still didn’t feel lightning fast like some of the other players I have used, but it is plenty enough to jet around the pitch.

+ I only ended up using Nkunku for 4 matches as a ST, and in one match he managed 4 goals. There are certainly goals in this card and only 11 goals in 15 matches doesn’t do the shooting justice, and of course is a result of the positioning carousel. In his small time as striker the 93 FINISHING, 89 LONG SHOTS and most importantly the 90 SHOT POWER felt incredible when on Nkunku’s more favored right foot.

+ The passing in FIFA 23 can drive you over the deep end if you are not careful. One of the most infuriating parts of the game and 9/10 times I find cards way underperform their stats. From this aspect Nkunku was a diamond in the rough and must have had a genie in his lamp… The 88 SHORT PASSING, 88 VISION & 83 LONG PASSING all performed at or above expectations throughout the entire review.

I mentioned the difficulty in selecting a position for Nkunku, which is 100% a result of his overall ability to play multiple positions… But also due to the fact that his statistics are not brilliant in one of the areas that would lead you to an obvious position choice.

- I mentioned the quality of the shooting with Nkunku and I truly feel like he would have scored his fair share of goals in a complete striker review. However, the 3 STAR WEAK FOOT reared its ugly head a few times in those few short games. I did manage to score one… but the amount I missed and the impact they had on my matches were enough to end the striker experiment. The PTG upgrade… could be magic for this card.

- I know I mentioned this previously, but I want to double down on the fact that Nkunku did not feel like all of his pace statistics were firing properly… Even with the 98 ACCELERATION & 99 SPRINT SPEED of the SHADOW this card didn’t feel fast.

- As a RAM I didn’t find any issues with Nkunku’s strength… but in the more central areas of the pitch his 175cm | 5’9 frame and only 74 STRENGTH was simply not enough to keep up with the juggernauts you come up against in those areas of the pitch.

Closing Words

This card is a huge gamble for me… because if Nkunku does not get the 5 STAR WEAK FOOT then you will not see much of this card in the future. I guess France could lose and the price could plummet so low that the fantastic statistics become a bargain… but if you buy at 1.6 million this will buy you little solace.

I enjoyed this card a lot and due to the wide-ranging statistics you can play Nkunku as both provider and poacher… But at the moment he doesn’t come close to the likes of World Cup Hero Keane who played alongside him. Similarly, he didn’t have the same central impact as World Cup Hero Park who patrolled the midfield earlier in the review.

I don’t want anyone to read this review and think that I am saying Nkunku is awful… he is actually brilliant and does have incredible potential. I just want to provide a cautionary tale about the result if the tournament goes sideways for France… and to reiterate the fact that there are specialists in the positions you can play Nkunku that are currently doing the job better.