An English national player has spent his free time during the international match break with his Ultimate Team in EA FC 25. His team, worth 44 million, which he proudly presents on Instagram, is actually quite an eye-catcher. However, most of his followers are particularly displeased with the lineup that the professional has chosen.
What kind of football professional is this? Dominic Solanke was one of the most expensive transfers of the summer of 2024. The English national player switched from FC Bournemouth to London at Tottenham Hotspurs for a reported fee of over 64 million euros.
This season, the powerful striker has already scored 2 goals and provided 1 assist in 5 games. Solanke seems to be doing even better on the PS5 in EA FC 25 Ultimate Team.
At least that’s what a thread shared by the English national player on his Instagram account reveals:
This is Solanke’s 44 million team: The team is bursting with expensive cards. The following players are part of his squad and have the following prices on the transfer market in Ultimate Team (as of October 18, 2024):
- GK: Gold Courtois (41,000 coins)
- LB: Team-of-the-Week Théo Hernández (1.2 million coins)
- CB: Icon Carlos Alberto (1.3 million coins)
- CB: Icon Maldini (2.3 million coins)
- CB: Icon Thuram (1.6 million coins)
- RB: Icon Cafu (1.4 million coins)
- LM: Icon Gullit (6.4 million coins)
- RM: Icon Zidane (3.7 million coins)
- CAM: Icon Hamm (7.5 million coins)
- LS: Icon Ronaldo (13.5 million coins)
- RS: Total Rush Mbappé (5.9 million coins)
In total, all stars combined add up to a price of nearly 45 (44.84) million coins. The most expensive player is Brazilian legend Ronaldo, who is also among the most expensive cards in Ultimate Team this year.
How Solanke got such an expensive team at such an early point in EA FC is unfortunately unknown to us. It could be that the professional invested real money in packs.
Criticism from followers regarding the defensive setup
Most of his followers can perhaps only afford keeper Thibaut Courtois from Real Madrid for 44,000 coins at most. However, they don’t find that the worst part. They are more focused on the formation that the professional has chosen for his expensive team.
While Solanke might not have thought anything bad when posting his thread and wanted to make an impression, critical comments are increasing under one of his latest posts on Instagram.
- The top comment comes from the official account of the well-known EA FC service site Futbin: “5-man defense, you know it. Get it under control, kid” (via Instagram)
- User Nicholas Franklin writes: “My striker is a 5-man defense rat” (via Instagram)
- Many other fans simply comment with the emoji of a rat. (via Instagram)
What are the followers criticizing? The professional receives criticism primarily for the arrangement of his stars in a 5-man defense.
While having 5 players in defense is meta in the early weeks of EA FC, fans surely wish that the professional would play a bit bolder with such a team. This should also be reflected in his basic formation.
- At least urmarjsmother thinks so: “You don’t have to play a 5-man defense with this team. Come on, brother.” (via Instagram)
With the latest Title Update 3, the 5-man defense in FC 25 is supposed to be nerfed. You can read about this and other changes here on MeinMMO: EA FC 25 Patch Notes: New Title Update 3 is here, nerfs OP formation: All changes at a glance
Further criticism of Solanke due to excessive investments
- The comment with the second most likes comes from former teammate at FC Bournemouth Jaidon Anthony: “People like you ruin the game” (via Instagram)
- User joelred is even more specific: Take the brother’s credit card away, because teams like this ruin the game. (via Instagram)
While the first comment from his former teammate is likely meant ironically, at least the second post directly addresses the pay-to-win problem in EA FC. While it’s not proven whether Solanke has invested real money in EA FC 25, the suspicion is close at hand.
People who invest real money increase their chances of pulling a strong player with the amount of additional packs. If they play this expensive player themselves or sell them for many coins, they gain an advantage over others who do not invest money.
With the trading tips for FC 25 on MeinMMO, you can also get many coins without spending real money.
How successful Dominic Solanke is with his team in EA FC 25 is unfortunately unknown to us. However, if the professional ever shows a picture of his division in Rivals or his placement in the Weekend League, we will add it to this article. Even though the Weekend League now has fewer games, there are significantly better rewards: EA FC 25: Weekend League with new rewards – All rewards at a glance
