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What's the story?
Phillipe Coutinho's move to FC Barcelona from Premier League side Liverpool FC could see a change in his FIFA 18 ratings after the close of the winter transfer window. Incidentally, Coutinho's current overall rating is 86.
In case you didn't know...
Phillipe Coutinho, the 25-year-old Brazilian international completed his move this January for a club record fee of €160 million from English Merseyside club Liverpool FC to Spanish club FC Barcelona. Coutinho's move was the second most expensive football transfer in history and the biggest involving a British club.
The heart of the matter
Phillipe Coutinho's move from Liverpool to FC Barcelona could see a significant change in his FIFA 18 ratings as he moves into a new system of play at the home of the Catalan giants.The January update saw Coutinho become the highest-rated left-wing attacker at FC Barcelona after his transfer.
In FIFA 18, Coutinho at Barcelona could be thought of as occupying one or two roles. The first and the most natural one would be the left-winger ahead of Deulofue, where Coutinho could be a revelation alongside former Liverpool team-mate Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi. However, Ousmane Dembele's return from injury and Coutinho's dribbling and passing abilities make a strong case for the Brazilian to slot into the midfield.
EA Sports, by default, have put Coutinho as the left-sided attacking central midfielder in a 4-2-2-2 formation in the database update put out on January 11. Messi partners Luis Suarez in the attack and Dembele, Rakitic and Paulinho complete the midfield. Marc-Andre Ter Stegen is between the sticks with Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti and Sergio Roberto manning the defence.
The sole drawback for Coutinho in the three-man attack is his pace rating (82), which is very less when compared to Dembele (91) and Deulofue (93). FIFA 18 values pace highly for a winger and thus Coutinho falls slightly short in that department. The Brazilian makes up for his pace rating with higher shooting and passing ability in the game and also has a better weak-foot four-star rating and four-star skill move rating.
A prediction for Coutinho's rating after the update would be an improved passing, dribbling and shooting stats as Ernesto Valverde is likely to deploy the crafty Brazilian in the midfield.
What's next?
The FIFA 18 transfer update will be out after the window closes at the end of January 2018 and the final ratings for Coutinho at FC Barcelona will be revealed then.
Author's take
Coutinho's signing at Barcelona could see a slight rise in his ratings in FIFA 18 as his new role would require him to pass more, shoot from outside the box and dribble well to occupy the spot or even replace Iniesta in the starting lineup for the Blaugrana. He is most likely to get an overall rating of 88.
