FIFA 17 hits shelves on 27 September in the United States and 29 September worldwide but if you are looking for the best players in the game, look no further. From club-wise player ratings to the best players in each skill, we now turn our focus to the best free-kick takers in the game and the top 10 is far from obvious.
It is truly amazing that even at the ripe old age of 37, Andrea Pirlo is still the set-piece king in world football. In FIFA 16, he was second on the list. But this year, the New York City FC midfielder has taken the top spot!
The Italian legend taking top spot means last year’s no.1 free-kick taker slips down to second. Hakan Calhanoglu is the second-best free-kick taker in FIFA 17. The 22-year-old Bayer Leverkusen midfielder is not just one for the future – he has already arrived. And his stock is only set to rise. He is one of the most exciting prospects and Turkey have a player who can take them far if they build a team around him.
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Miralem Pjanic takes the third spot and what is great about his position on the list is that he wasn’t even in the top 10 last year and yet makes the top three in FIFA 17. Signed by Juventus from Roma on a five-year contract for a fee that was about €32 million, the 26-year-old from Bosnia and Herzegovina now plays in Pirlo’s old role and Juve coach Max Allegri feels he “will become one of the best in the world in that position.”
Yet another player who makes it into the top 10 in spite of not making the list last year is West Ham’s Dimitri Payet. An incredible debut season in the Premier League saw him voted into the PFA Team of the Year for 2015/16 and his performances also saw France reach the final of Euro 2016 on home soil.
More: FIFA 17 – Demo Review
Rounding off the top five is a second Turkish midfielder – Mehmet Ekici. The Trabzonspor midfielder was only eighth-best in FIFA 16 but gets a huge upgrade in FIFA 17. Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has dropped down one position to sixth while Manchester United’s no.7 Memphis Depay is seventh on the list. Francesco Lodi, Shunsuke Nakamura and Gylfi Sigurdsson round off the top 10.
| # | PLAYER | CLUB |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrea Pirlo | New York City FC |
| 2 | Hakan Calhanoglu | Bayer Leverkusen |
| 3 | Miralem Pjanic | Juventus |
| 4 | Dimitri Payet | West Ham United |
| 5 | Mehmet Ekici | Trabzonspor |
| 6 | Lionel Messi | FC Barcelona |
| 7 | Memphis Depay | Manchester United |
| 8 | Francesco Lodi | Udinese |
| 9 | Shunsuke Nakamura | Yokohama F Marinos |
| 10 | Gylfi Sigurdsson | Swansea City |
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