New LM Paul Pogba item offers midfield flexibility

We assessed Paul Pogba's LM Europa League item a few weeks ago, and you now have an even better option on FIFA 21 Ultimate Team.

EA has released a 90-rated LM Pogba in TOTW 29, with the Frenchman perhaps the last must-have player ahead of the Team of the Season promo for a lot of players.

Paul Pogba TIF 89

As you see from the card above, is that aside from defending, the Frenchman has 80 or above stats across the board.

Of particular note is his 90 passing, 90 dribbling, 89 physicality and 88 shooting - meaning opponents will struggle to get the ball off him!

There are question marks about his defending ability, so perhaps you won't quite trust Pogba enough (like most managers) to play him as a sole defensive midfielder.

Cost

Upon the card's arrival into the FUT 21 market - it is currently costing 400,000 coins on PS4 and as much as 600,000 on Xbox One.

Expect this to settle down to 300,000 and 400,000 coins on the respective consoles.

Potential links

4-4-2 and 4-1-2-1-2 (narrow) are two of the most common formations to use in FIFA 21 Ultimate Team.

Playing Pogba as a left midfielder allows you to shoehorn another forward or attacking player into your side.

In the example above, we would switch to 4-1-2-1-2 (narrow) in-game, playing Kante at the base of the diamond, flanked by Pogba and Fernandes, with a fluid front three ahead of them.

Alternatively we could look to play Mane, Mbappe or Salah on the left-hand side and go for a 4-2-2-2.

Possible alternatives

The first comparison is with Pogba's own 89-rated LM Europa League item.

With each of the six FUT stats improving by at least one, there is enough of a difference between the two cards to go for the new one.

Pace is perhaps the key factor with 80 pace on the new item giving the United star greater influence in attack and defence.

The Europa League Man of the Match item is priced at 235,000 coins on PS4 and 300,000 on Xbox One - so it may be worth saving those extra coins to go for the new card.

It will be interesting to see how much the price in both cards falls over the next seven days.

The much cheaper alternative for LM Pogba is Bastian Schweinsteiger's base Icon card.

Firstly, the German offers Icon links, meaning he will get at least an amber link to any player.

His shooting, passing, dribbling and physicality may not be as high as Pogba's, but for a cheaper price (around 138,000 / 154,000 coins on the various consoles) - bringing in Schewingsteiger is a sensible move.

Verdict

What the price!

If you've got the coins and can secure Pogba for sub-500,000 coins he is likely to be your last big money expenditure ahead of Team of the Season.

Further boosts to pace and defending wouldn't go amiss - so make sure you put a shadow chemistry style on him.