Lionel Messi has been the cover star alongside a few other familiar faces for years, but he’s been replaced by Borussia Dortmund star Marco Reus for the next instalment.
Fans were able to vote between Reus, Antony Martial of Manchester United, Eden Hazard of Chelsea or James Rodriguez of Real Madrid for who they wanted to appear on the front cover. Over 3.1 million votes were cast through the official EA Sports website, and Reus was the expected favourite because nobody really dislikes Borussia Dortmund, do they? Manchester United and Chelsea are hated by everyone that isn’t a fan of either team, while Real Madrid aren’t particularly liked by anyone that isn’t a Real fan in Spain.
Reus was the safe choice, even if he isn’t the most well known player out of the four. That’s not to say he’s a bad player however; he’s the captain of Dortmund, has 29 caps for Germany and was named the German Footballer of the Year in 2012. He’s also had multiple rumours linking him to moves over here, to Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal.
“I’m honored to join a very distinguished group of footballers to appear on the cover of FIFA,” said Reus. “Most of all I am humbled that the fans have chosen me, and I will strive to make them proud with my performance on the pitch.”
All of the aforementioned players are global ambassadors for the game, featuring prominently in all the trailers and gameplay videos seen so far. FIFA 17 releases in the UK on September 29th.