EA just gave every FIFA 21 player a free David Beckham card

Deck the halls with boughs of holly, ’tis the season to be… banging home free kicks with complimentary Ultimate Team cards. Or at least it will be from today, as EA just gifted all FIFA 21 players a free David Beckham item. 

Yes, you read that correctly: every FIFA 21 player across all formats, other than Switch (doh), just got Beckham for nothing. The only caveat is that the offer expires on 15 January 2021, so be sure to log in at least once over Christmas if you wish you claim the former England skipper. [Don't worry, he's not repatriated to Holland - the image at the top of this story is simply reflective of my home kit choice in Ultimate Team.]

Grabbing your complimentary Beckham is easy. Head into the FUT Main Menu, then jump into Store. You should find a special red-and-black pack tile simply titled ‘David Beckham’. Click on it, and you get a pack opening graphic and Beckham appearing with a walkout motion. 

Becks’ card is 86 rated overall, with a tonne of 80+ attributes. He boasts 94 free kick accuracy, 92 vision, 91 crossing, and a sensational 97 curve. Fabian Barthez might question his 89 penalties rating when reflecting on Euro 2004, but we won’t. The card’s worst rating is 65 slide tackle. 

According to EA, the card celebrates Beckham’s debut at Real Madrid in 2003/04, which means that it’s locked to England and La Liga for chemistry purposes. Only two other players in the entire game tick identical boxes: Kieran Tripper of Atletico Madrid and Valencia youngster Yunus Musah. Little wonder Trippier’s 85-rated TOTW card value has risen to 29,000 coins owing to Becks’ release, and if you find a Musah in your club you’re looking at 3,000 easy coins too.

Beckham also has three Icon cards rated 87, 89 and 92. These remove the chemistry restriction, but at some cost – the lowest of the three is currently sitting just under the 1,000,000 coins barrier. Ouchee.

For more on the retro players added this year, including Beckham's former England team-mate Ashley Cole, check out our FIFA 21 Icons guide.