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Ryan Pessoa's FUT 22 guide: the best Ligue 1 starter team
The French top flight is looking très tasty this season. Let talent spotter Ryan Pessoa guide you through the 'Road to Messi, Neymar and Mbappé' starter pack...
Hoo boy. This one is going to be interesting. Naturally everyone will be attempting to assemble the Paris Saint-Germain first XI for their Ligue 1 team, with Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi likely to form an incredible front three for anyone with the coins. Then there's Gini Wijnaldum, Sergio Ramos, Ashraf Hakimi... The list goes on. But Ligue 1 isn't just about PSG players, and that's just as well since they will be wildly expensive.
It would be worth getting hold of PSG's new goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma
Gianluigi Donnarumma
© Gabriele Seghizzi/Red Bull Content Pool
"Ligue 1 is going to be crazy popular this year due to Paris Saint-Germain signing Messi, Ramos and plenty of others," says Ryan Pessoa. "If you can afford him, it would be worth getting hold of their new goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma while you can. He won Euro 2020 in the summer and is a remarkably complete goalkeeper for 22 years old, with some good traits too."
Looking beyond PSG, there's value to be had among some old names and some new imports, although all rounds eventually lead to Paris. Let's break down where you can find early value for your Ligue 1 starter team.
Abdou Diallo (78, CB) - PSG, Senegal
PSG's Abdou Diallo is good enough in the air for early-game FUT
© EA
You won’t be getting near Ramos or Kimpembe initially, but PSG’s other centre back could be a reasonable option for your early-game team. His pace is just about there and at least it means someone in your squad has the famous PSG badge. He's tall enough to repel crosses if we see another surge of headed goals early on, too.
Andy Delort (81, ST) - Nice, Algeria
Striking options for Ligue 1 aren’t as amazing as some other leagues, but Delort will do a great job finishing chances with his high shooting stats, even if he’s never going to sprint onto a through ball like Mbappé. He's powerful, too, so should be able to hold off a defender on the edge of the box to link the play with approaching team-mates.
Burak Yılmaz (81, ST) - Lille, Turkey
There are some solid Turkish players in Ligue 1, and we can easily imagine playing Yılmaz up top initially if we get hold of him in the first few days. Like Delort, he’ll finish his dinner, but you might want to find a pacy attacker to play alongside him. He should be good in the air, too.
Gelson Martins (78, RM) - Monaco, Portugal
We are expecting this to be one of the more expensive sub-80 rating cards in the early part of the game, especially with Portuguese links, but if you can get him then Gelson will hold down that flank for early Weekend Leagues and plenty more besides. Hang onto him once you're finished with him, too, because he will work great as a second-half super sub.
Houssem Aouar (81, CM) - Lyon, France
Ooh, ah, Houssem Aouar – a very classy midfielder
© EA
His special cards are always better all-rounders than his base card, which feels a little weak defensively for a CM role, but Aouar is still a classy player, and we’d be very happy if he tumbled out of one of our starter packs to sit in midfield. Could be a strong option for a CAM if you need someone to play off the strikers.
Jason Denayer (80, CB) - Lyon, Belgium
Jason Denayer is an excellent starter option for the heart of your defence
© EA
He's not going to be cheap, but he will be cheap compared to some of the PSG options, and Denayer will hold the fort well until you can upgrade the defence. Pair him with Diallo and you should be fine to navigate the early weeks of the game.
Julian Draxler (80, CAM) - PSG, Germany
We had honestly slightly forgotten that Draxler was at PSG, and he presumably is a little concerned about the number of people on the books in his position, especially a certain Argentinean who arrived in the summer. But if you need an early-game CAM for your Ligue 1 team, he could work out well, and he will provide decent hybrid options for Bundesliga teams too, thanks to his German nation link.
Renato Sanches (80, CM) - Lille, Portugal
The one and only. Another player who is always linked with a move to another league, Renato is very welcome to stay in France from a FIFA perspective, as he links teams together well. Expect to pay an early-game premium to use him, but it should be worth it. If he gets anything like the kind of cards he got in the last FIFA, expect him to be a feature of teams from now until FIFA 23.
Matteo Guendouzi (77, CDM) - Marseille, France
Possibly a little lightweight, but we’ll include him here nonetheless as we expect Renato Sanches to be super expensive until the market settles. Upgrade Matteo as soon as you can, obviously, but he’ll be fine when you’re getting your bearings. Squad Battles won’t know what hit it. Oh, and he's definitely not on this list because of his hair...
Pau Lopez (80, GK) - Marseille, Spain
Any old goalkeeper will do the trick to begin with, but Pau Lopez has the versatility of Spanish links to boost his usefulness at the back. He's a little bit faster than most, too, and at 6'2" he's absolutely fine to deal with crosses and lobs.
Wissam Ben Yedder (84, ST) - Monaco, France
Ben Yedder is often very expensive at the start of the cycle, but we wonder if his slight pace reduction may put people off in a way that it hasn’t previously. Then again, it’s Ben Yedder, so logic may not apply. Five-star weak foot makes him difficult to pin down, and he always gets a bunch of in-forms that boost his out-of-packs price further to boot. Go get him.
