Professional Manuel “ManuBachoore” Bachoore has been the new world champion in EA FC 25 since August 10, 2025. In his 15 million dollar team, he opted for a center-back who is actually a goalkeeper. Unlike the rest of the team, this player is affordable for anyone.
What kind of defender is he? Giorgi Mamardashvili is the goalkeeper of the Georgian national team and has demonstrated strong performances both nationally and internationally over the last two years. In the summer of 2025, he transferred from FC Valencia to the reigning English champions, Liverpool.
Mamardashvili is actually a solid keeper with an 85-rated gold card in FC 25 and even has a Team-of-the-Week card upgraded to a total score of 89.
Thanks to an event in Ultimate Team, Mamardashvili has recently become a key player, especially in defense. In fact, he made it into the team of the new world champion for FC 25.
World Champion swaps goalkeeper and defender in FC 25
Why does the new world champion have a goalkeeper in defense? The reason is the Shapeshifters event in FC 25. During this promotion, numerous cards were released that not only received strong upgrades but can also be played in completely different positions.
Suitable examples of such position changes can be found in the team of the new world champion “ManuBachoore”, who triumphed with a score of 5:3 against competitor Brice “Brice” Masson in this year’s final.
You can watch the final in full length on YouTube here:
Mamardashvili, who exchanged his original role as a goalkeeper for that of a defender, moved into the center of defense in the 4-2-1-3 formation of the world champion. Konaté, normally a defender, provides a strong goalkeeper in ManuBachoore’s team thanks to Shapeshifters.
The stats have been adjusted in the Shapeshifters so that they can keep up with the current meta in FC 25. A good example is Mamardashvili’s pace. While he had a speed rating of 48 as a goalkeeper on his gold card, he has a speed of 91 in his Shapeshifters version.
The other relevant values hint at why Mamardashvili is also a strong defender for pros. With a defensive stat of 95 and a physical stat of 96, he can easily keep up with normal strong defenders.
In contrast to the other top defenders, Mamardashvili is available at an affordable price. This made him even more interesting for the pros at the world championship since they could spend their budget of 15 million on other top players.
Generally, you won’t find a better price-performance ratio in defense, as Mamardashvili offers a crucial advantage compared to his seasoned defender colleagues.
A strong price for a crucial advantage
What advantage does Mamardashvili offer? He combines an enormous height (1.99 m) with a wide player model. Thus, the Georgian is even harder to surpass, feels like he always gets a leg in and is almost unbeatable in the air.
Only the Shapeshifters throwback card of goalkeeper colleague Milinkovic-Savic (2.02 m) and Futties Isaak Touré (2.06 m) are slightly taller in defense. Otherwise, hardly anyone can match him in terms of size.
Why is the price-performance ratio so good? At the release of the new card, Shapeshifters Mamardashvili cost just under 300,000 coins, even rising to nearly 330,000 coins a month later (via Futbin). Currently, you can get the Georgian in his new position for around 40,000 coins, as the Futties event has brought defenders with even better stats and more playstyles to Ultimate Team.
However, this should not discourage you.
Mamardashvili possesses, in addition to his strong stats and physical presence, the perfect playstyles for a center-back. With “Anticipation+” and “Interception+” alone, he possesses the 2 most important defensive playstyles even in gold.
In addition, Mamardashvili, with 90 passing and the passing playstyles “Tiki-Taka” and “High Ball,” is also a pleasing passer.
If you’ve been looking for an affordable upgrade in your defense in the last few weeks in FC 25, Mamardashvili could be the right solution. Otherwise, preparations for the new FC 26 are underway. You can expect some changes in career mode: EA FC 26 brings a new feature in career mode that makes each season unpredictable
