FIFA 23: Why Erling Haaland deserves a 99-rated TOTS card

The Team of the Season (TOTS) campaign is officially underway in FIFA 23, with the Community and Eredivisie squads available in packs right now.

We are still awaiting the release of the most hotly-anticipated squad of all, however, with the Premier League TOTS set to hit FUT 23 very soon.

Whilst EA has not yet revealed the official PL Team of the Season squad, there is one man who is certain to feature - Manchester City goal machine Erling Haaland.

Haaland's inclusion in the Premier League TOTS is not up for debate, but his Team of the Season rating could be a point of contention.

Only a handful of players will reach 99 OVR in the entirety of the FIFA 23 game cycle and we think the City number nine deserves to be one of those.

World Class Erling

Erling Haaland has now scored 50 goals in all competitions during the 2022/23 campaign, following his £51.2m move from Borussia Dortmund in June.

The 22-year-old has now scored the most goals by a top-flight player for 92 years - since Tom 'Pongo' Waring reached 50 for Aston Villa way back in 1930/31.

Haaland has astonishingly only needed 44 games to bring up his half-century - with 34 Premier League goals, 12 in the Champions League, three in the FA Cup and one in the Carabao Cup.

Manchester City are on course to complete a historic Treble, as they push to win their fifth title in six seasons, and are in the Champions League semi-finals as well as the FA Cup final.

Erling Haaland has not just broken pretty much all goalscoring records since arriving in England, he has absolutely torn them to shreds.

With all of that in mind, there is no denying that the Norwegian international striker should be given a 99-rated Team of the Season card in FUT.

99-Rated TOTS Haaland

Haaland could be one of only three or four players given 99 OVR TOTS items during the FIFA 23 promo.

Paris Saint-Germain duo Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe are the other likely candidates to join the 99-club.

Given they are clearly the best attackers in world football right now, Mbappe, Haaland and Messi all warrant a 99 OVR rating.

Haaland's 99 OVR Team of the Season card could boast 99 Shooting, 98 Pace, 98 Physicality and 91 Dribbling.

The former Dortmund marksman's TOTS item will no doubt be one of the best strikers in Ultimate Team, alongside his French counterpart, Mbappe.

Should Haaland be handed the 99 OVR that we believe he deserves, it will be three overall ratings higher than his Team of the Year (TOTY) card that still sells for 3.3 million coins on the transfer market.

Haaland's skill moves and weak foot were bumped up to four-star on his TOTY card and we would expect EA to repeat this upgrade for his TOTS item.

Premier League TOTS Release Date

EA has not yet officially confirmed when the FIFA 23 Team of the Season campaign will commence, but we have a good idea of when it will begin.

The Premier League TOTS voting period is now over, having begun on Monday, 17 April and closed on Thursday, 20 April.

According to the rumours circulating on social media, the Premier League TOTS squad will hit FIFA 23 Ultimate Team next.

That means the Premier League TOTS items are set to be released into packs on Friday, 5 May at 1pm ET / 6pm BST.

Check out the full FIFA 23 TOTS release schedule right here.