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A lot of things can happen during a football season. We can see some unknown youth players coming to the limelight, fan favourites missing the season due to unfortunate injuries, or legends for a certain club leaving for new pastures.
However, some players make huge strides in their performances and improve themselves throughout the year with brilliant performances from start to finish. EA Sports FIFA 19 rewards these performances with a rating boost throughout the season.
In this list, we will take a look at a few of those players who have improved their rating the most from the top 5 leagues during the 2018/19 football season. For instance, Virgil Van Dijk's base card was rated 85. However, his highest rated performance based card is rated 96 - an improvement of 11 ratings. So without any further adieu, let us begin.
Note: FIFA Ratings are by no stretch of the imagination a parameter to judge how well a player has performed during the course of a season. This list only highlights those players who got a significant boost during the season.
#6 Youcef Atal
The Algerian youngster, Youcef Atal, has proven himself as one of the best dribblers on the right side of the pitch during his tenure with Ligue 1 side OGC Nice.
Atal made 25 first team appearances for Nice during the 2018/19 season and also was the substitute on four other occasions.
Atal had a brilliant season in all parts of the field and even chipped in a few goals whenever he was asked to move up the field.
Starting his FIFA 19 season as a 70 rated silver right back, Atal progressed the ranks and will end the 2018/19 season as an 89 rated Ligue 1 Team of the Season card - amassing a total of 19 ratings.
#5 Jonathan Bamba
Lille OSC had a brilliant season in the Ligue 1 and finished second in the table - just behind the Big Fish in the Small Pond, Paris Saint-German FC.
For their brilliant run, Lille OSC has to thank Bamba. The Frenchman started in an impressive 35 matches and was subbed only three times. Overall, Bamba spent over 3000 minutes on the pitch in Ligue 1 in the past season. Bamba netted in 13 goals for Lille in Ligue 1.
Bamba began his FIFA 19 season as a 71 rated non-rare silver. However, due to his strong showing in the first half of the league, Bamba got a winter upgrade to a 76 rated gold card. He also was a part of the fourth Team of the Week in FIFA Ultimate team.
He got his final boost in his Ligue 1 Team of the Season card, where he jumped to his final rating of 90. Similar to Youcef Atal, Bamba also gained a total of 19 ratings during the previous season.
#4 Luka Jovic
Fourth on our list is one of Real Madrid's latest acquirees for the 2019/20 season. Luka Jovic had a phenomenal season for the Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt.
The "Serbian Falcao" became the youngest player in football history to score five goals in a single match at the age of 20 when his side defeated Fortuna Dusseldorf during their October 2018 encounter. Jovic scored 17 Bundesliga goals in his 32 appearances for Frankfurt.
Unlike the previous entries, Jovic started with a 75-rated gold card - whereas both Bamba and Atal had base silver cards.
Jovic earned himself a +5 winter upgrade, taking him to a base stat of an impressive 80. Jovic was a part of two different Team of the Weeks - Team of the Week 6 and Team of the Week 24.
He is a part of Bundesliga Team of the Season with a final rating of 94. Jovic also garnered a total of 19 ratings during the previous season.
#3 Teji Savanier
Promotion to the top football league of your country comes with a lot of pressure. Nimes Olympique had a brilliant return to the Ligue 1, thanks to a ninth position finish. Being in the lower tier leagues for more than the last two decades, Nimes needed a grand return to the top football league in France.
Nimes had to thank their midfield engine Teji Savanier for his brilliant contributions from the middle of the field. Savanier was the highest rated player for Nimes in the 2018/19 season with a solid 7.89 points.
Savanier topped the list of most assists in Ligue 1, with a total of 13. Savanier was the second most rated player for Nimes at the start of the 2018/19 season - with an overall of 72 - behind Lyon's loanee Jordan Ferri.
Savanier earned himself a position in two Team of the Weeks. He ends his FIFA 19 run and 2018/19 season with an impressive overall of 93 - hence gathering 21 ratings during the previous season.
#2 Nicolas Pepe
As mentioned earlier, Lille OSC had a phenomenal season in the Ligue 1. If Jonathan Bamba was their top player on the left side of the field, the right side was entirely controlled by Ivory Coast's Nicolas Pepe. Pepe was the heart and soul of Lille.
Pepe was the second top scorer of the league, with 22 goals, behind PSG's Kylian Mbappe. Pepe is also joint second in the list of footballers with most assists in Ligue 1 - with 11 - just behind Teji Savanier.
Similar to Luka Jovic, Pepe also started the season with a 75 rated gold card. However, he began making his mark against Amiens by scoring the first hattrick of the season in Ligue 1. Pepe was a part of a whopping six Team of the Weeks.
It was only deserving for him to get a Ligue 1 Team of the Season card with a final overall of 96. Thus, Pepe amassed 21 points during 2018/19 season.
#1 Jadon Sancho
What a season this was for the English youngster. The Dortmund winger had a brilliant season by bagging 34 Bundesliga appearances, scoring 12 goals and paving way for 17 more. He clocked in a bit over 2450 minutes during this season in Bundesliga. Sancho scored one goal against Athletico Madrid during their group stage clash.
Sancho started his FIFA 19 season as a 72 rated silver rare card. However, his brilliant performances during the season earned him a 78 rated winter upgraded rare-gold card. Sancho was the Bundesliga Player of the Month in October.
Sancho was also chosen as one of the players to watch out for in the future - earning him a Future stars card. His final card in the game is rated at 96 - for being the part of the Bundesliga Team of the Season.
Sancho got a total 24 rating boost during the 2018/19 season.
