Memphis didn’t have the best of debut seasons in the Premier League after joining Manchester United from PSV Eindhoven in the summer of 2015, but maybe he would have done if Louis van Gaal just let him take more free-kicks.
The Dutch winger scored just seven times last season, none of them from dead-ball situations, and has just half an hour under his belt so far this season (with no goals to show for it).
But Memphis has retained his spot among the top 10 free-kick takers in EA Sports’ FIFA series, dropping one place year-on-year from sixth to seventh.
He is no longer the best-placed Premier League player, though. That honour goes to West Ham’s Dimitri Payet, whose FA Cup quarter-final effort meant he has scored more free-kicks at Old Trafford than the United player.
All in all there are three Premier League players in the top 10 – Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurðsson climbs to 10th after scoring twice from direct free-kicks last season.
There’s also a new number one, with New York City FC’s Andrea Pirlo and Bayer Leverkusen star Hakan Çalhanoğlu switching places so the Italian now holds down top spot.
And Celtic fans will be pleased to see a familiar name on the list. Shunsuke Nakamura is not only still playing, but he’s still the free-kick god we all remember him as. The 38-year-old former Japan international, now with Yokohama F. Marinos in the J-League, is ninth on the list.
FIFA 17 – Top 10 free-kick takers (check out the individual profiles here)
- Andrea Pirlo (New York City FC)
- Hakan Çalhanoğlu (Bayer Leverkusen)
- Miralem Pjanić (Juventus)
- Dimitri Payet (West Ham United)
- Mehmet Ekici (Trabzonspor)
- Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
- Memphis (Manchester United)
- Francesco Lodi (Udinese)
- Shunsuke Nakamura (Yokohama F. Marinos)
- Gylfi Sigurðsson (Swansea City)
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