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The EA Sports FC 26 hype train begins now. Over the last few days, various details about the leading soccer video game have dropped, including Arsenal and Arsenal Women's both being perfectly rated at five stars.
Today, EA Sports released the Player Ratings for the upcoming game release. Of course, this is a point of key interest, as everybody wants to see the players of their teams rated highly.
Look, no Arsenal fan expects to see any of their players as the highest rated player in the game. Heck, it would be a stretch to even expect a top 20 finish, given the amount of world-class players in the game right now.
However, Arsenal had a pretty showing in the top 26, with two players cracking the list.
Arsenal's highest rated player in EA Sports FC 26 is a complete surprise
According to EA Sports' official X account, the best players in the world are here. And, of the 26 players mentioned in the post, two Arsenal players snuck in at the end.
The highest rated Arsenal player in EA Sports FC 26 is Gabriel Magalhaes, joined with Bukayo Saka. Both players are rated 88 at the start of EA FC 26.
Everybody expected to see Bukayo Saka as the highest rated player, but it might come as a surprise to see Gabriel crack the list too.
Bukayo Saka is one of the best players in the world. Making his breakthrough as a defender, he has quickly evolved into a world-beating right-winger. Despite not winning the Premier League or Champions League, Saka's world-class quality is now without question.
Last season, Saka was rated 87. He was the 47th best player in the world then, in EA's eyes. So, for Saka to be granted a +1 rating shows that he only continues to improve.
Gabriel Magalhaes was ranked 86 in last season's game, so he has achieved a +2 rating. Gabriel has emerged into Arsenal's most important player, and he's become an even better defender than William Saliba. So, it's great to see his hard work recognized by EA.
Gabriel being Arsenal's highest rated player is impressive, solely due to him being a defender. Defenders and goalkeepers are renowned for receiving worse grades than midfielders and attackers, so they have to work twice as hard to receive the same grades.
Impressively enough, Gabriel is the third-highest-rated defender in the game (behind Virgil van Dijk and Achraf Hakimi). That's nothing short of remarkable.