FIFA 23 Centurions Neymar Player Review

I must admit that new promos are one of the things that I always look forward to with each new FIFA edition. There are the classics such as FUT Birthday and Future Stars that always hit the mark… but new promos offer that bit of intrigue and wonder about what will come next.

The FUT Centurion promo comes with a fantastic idea and an even better card design… but didn’t really deliver in terms of the cards selected, or at least the boosts added. As it stands only 5 of the FUT Centurions remain over 100k with Jamie Vardy hanging on for dear life, and overall their prices have dropped drastically from the weekend.

 

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I think the biggest problem with the last two promos is how much EA has scaled back the improvements on new promo cards from current cards available on the market. It is as if EA has determined that drastic boosts were an issue in the early days of FIFA 23 and has now toned them down. So while the name and card design suggested we were getting gladiators, what we got was more in line with celebrity boxers.

One option stood out above the rest and negated any real need for a poll this week as Neymar’s card was the undeniable superstar, both in statistics and in price tag. The Brazilian has been perhaps the biggest benefactor of the early patch to AcceleRATE styles, which turned the PSG man from mediocre into meteoric. If you used the NIF before and after the patch you will know 100% what I am talking about.

For this review, I continued with the 4-3-2-1 formation and this caused a little bit of a problem for Neymar. I would suggest that a central CAM position would be the absolute ideal place to play this card, but I thought the attacking box-to-box position in my 4-3-2-1 might be a fine substitute… it wasn’t.

With the failed CM test drive it was a move to ST for Neymar in hopes of utilizing his attacking flair and 5-STAR WEAK FOOT to lead my team through FUT Champs qualifying… and this time it worked an absolute treat, as the HUNTER chemistry style and attacking positions provided a steady flow of returns towards a 10-0 finish.

Neymar truly was the Perfect Chaos leading my attack and disorientating defences all weekend long in the following squad:

 

Starting Squad

 

In-Game Squad

 

Overall

 

I previously mentioned the NIF version of Neymar and it currently stands as one of the few NIF cards left with any value.  The dribbling, pace, and of course shooting are still at a level that justifies using Ney over some of the more expensive options on the market.

This review could really go one of two ways.  Either Neymar would be slightly better than the NIF for a massive price increase… or the performance would warrant the price tag… in this case, I think the FUT Centurion version produced the quality of every single statistic and was worth every single coin.

 

Main Statistics – Shooting

Shooting Rating: 9.5/10

Weak Foot: ★★★★★

Trait: Outside Foot Shot

The HUNTER does a fantastic job of topping up a lot of Neymar’s shooting abilities… The 95 FINISHING & 87 SHOT POWER is two notable areas required to deliver quality and consistency in shooting, and they did so time and time again in this review.

I hate to even use the term weak foot with this card considering Neymar is as two-footed as any I have used this FIFA.  The quality of finishing is right up there with some of the best strikers I have used and only outlines how effective Neymar would be as an out-and-out CAM for those that play those formations. 

The slight hiccup and .5 loss come from the fact that Neymar does not have the FINESSE Trait and is a requirement for a 10/10 with our new system.  The lack of finesse finishes from outside the box, despite trying in open space, shows one limitation on an otherwise flawless finisher.

 

Value/Coins

Value/Coins Rating: 5/5

The card is simply too good.  1.9 million coins is a massive price tag, but the card delivers in a massive way.  Interestingly, when you search the parameters of Neymar’s base statistics you are left with an all-Brazilian lineup… 93/94 Garrincha, 94 Ronaldinho & 95/96/98 Pele RIP.  None of them boasts the 5-STAR WEAK FOOT and only Garrincha comes in at a cheaper price tag. 

 

Good vs. Bad 

Good vs Bad Rating: 5/5

With 5/5 Value for Coins the results on the pitch have to justify the 2 million coins you put in, and here were the strengths that lead the way.

+ The biggest threat Neymar poses outside of the fantastic shooting is his ability to single-handedly get into the positions required to take those shots with his phenomenal dribbling.  95 AGILITY & 84 BALANCE are not the most earth-shattering statistics… but when you mix in the unique body/dribbling, EXPLOSIVE AcceleRATE, 175cm | 5’9 frame and 97 DRIBBLING… it is lights out for opponents and produces one of, if not the best-left stick dribbler I have tested.

+ The pace is one that just about ticks every box as well.  The 99 ACCELERATION is lightning in a bottle and again the AcceleRATE shoots this card out of cannon on the first touch.  As a striker, this was a ridiculous tool.  The one caution for those using Neymar as a CAM was that the 97 SPRINT SPEED does not translate perfectly in game and quite a few defenders caught me in more open areas of the pitch.  

Falling short of the 10/10 overall suggests that there are still some minor problems with this card, and it is worth a quick overview for those interested in purchasing.

- The passing statistics looked slightly worrying, especially for a CAM, and produced similarly less-than-perfect results in the game.  The 87 SHORT PASSING was the most disappointing and while not terrible, the first-time passing could be sporadic.   

- Who needs strength when you can dribble in a phone booth?  Well. Neymar did at times but simply didn’t have it.  9/10 times you can find an intricate way out… but the small percentage of times I was tackled, the size and 55 STRENGTH did nothing to help the cause.

 

Closing Words

I did a small search of the current players in the 1.5 million to 2.1 million price range to see how I would rank Neymar in terms of game-changing options.

The likes of IF Mbappe, WCP Toure, 91 Cruyff, 91 Pele, WC Zidane, 91 Vieira & TOTT Messi are some stiff competition and depending on your formation and how you play would all offer benefits to different FUT Managers.

But regardless of who you would choose in the dream scenario where you could pick one (I am interested to know in the comments, who would that be??) the fact remains that Neymar belongs in that conversation and really highlights the quality that was uncovered with this review.  Not a surprise that a “2 million coin card is good.”  But the results of how good were not only interesting to uncover, but fun to research and is maybe the pinnacle of this card's power in the game… he is just so fun to use.