What do Loris Karius, Adrian, Divock Origi and Takumi Minamino have in common – apart from the fact they’ll spend the next eight months picking splinters out of their backsides while waiting on the sidelines?
Well, according to the boffins at EA Sports, Karius, Adrian, Origi and forgotten man Minamino are all superior to the free-scoring, £17 million striker Liverpool hope to sign in 2022 (BILD).
And, as you might expect, Karim Adeyemi wasn’t best pleased to find out a FIFA 22 rating of just 71 puts him level with the likes of Phil Bardsley, James Chester and Lys Mousset.
“Big joke,” the 19-year-old wrote on Instagram, albeit with a wink. “It’s a scandal.”
FIFA 22 rates Liverpool target Karim Adeyemi low but EA Sports has previous
Now, Adeyemi only has to look at Kylian Mbappe to realise sometimes the good men and women at FIFA aren’t always au fait with the next generation of attacking superstars.
The Paris Saint-Germain superstar was rated 71 himself on the release of FIFA 17 and, less than a year later, was heading to the Parc des Princes for £165 million with a World Cup winner’s medal hanging round his neck.
A baby-faced Erling Haaland, meanwhile, was handed a rating of 68 (including finishing skills of just 67/100) 14 months before completing a move to Borussia Dortmund and establishing himself as the game’s next great number nine.
So while Adeyemi may not be much use to Liverpool supporters lucky enough to get their mitts on a PS5 this season, don’t expect the youngest goalscorer for the German national team since 2011 to stay in the low-70s for long.
“German football would be well advised to bring him back,” says Adeyemi’s mentor and SpVgg Unterhaching president Manfred Schwabl, while backing the Red Bull Salzburg striker to choose the Premier League over a second spell at Bayern Munich.
“If he came back to Germany, it would only be an intermediate step. In the long run, he’s a player for England.
“He is quick and ready for duels. You have already seen that against Armenia (Adeyemi scored his first Germany goal in a 6-0 World Cup-qualifying victory last week).
“He’ll score goals. In the long run, the island (Britain) will be his home.”
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
