EA SPORTS have released a FUT Birthday SBC for Greece / Napoli defender Kostas Manolas in FIFA 20 Ultimate Team (FUT), and we’ve got the requirements, cheapest solutions, in-game stats, and everything else you need to complete it.
FUT Birthday continues to roll on in FIFA 20, celebrating Ultimate Team’s 13th year of existence with special cards that feature boosted stats, and either an upgrade to five-star skills, five-star weak foot, or both.
As part of this promo, EA has periodically released special SBCs, and the latest one on April 10 was an 89-rated Kostas Manolas with a five-star weak foot.
A ball deflecting machine with either foot 🛑. FUT Birthday SBC Kostas Manolas (w/ 5-star Weak Foot) is in #FUT20 pic.twitter.com/vzRtwkp0ko
— EA SPORTS FC (@EASPORTSFC) April 10, 2020
Manolas FUT Birthday SBC in-game stats
While the five-star weak foot will be the biggest marketing aspect of this card, the boosts to its stats are equally as impressive, especially the pace, defending, and physical.
Manolas has always been a speedy CB in FUT, but this special item might be his fastest yet, featuring 87 pace that’s a balanced combination of 86 acceleration and 88 sprint speed.
Four out of the five defending stats are at least 91, which means he’ll be difficult to get past, while the 92 jumping, 88 strength, and 92 aggression make him a rock along the backline.
Requirements, cheapest solutions, cost
This FUT Birthday SBC requires two squad building components – an 84-rated Serie A team and an 85-rated side, both requiring at least one In-Form or TOTW Moments card.
SERIE A TIM:
- Players from Serie A TIM: Min 1
- In-Form or TOTW Moments Players: Min 1
- Squad Rating: 84
- Team Chemistry: 80
- Players in Squad: 11
- Reward: Jumbo Premium Gold Pack
85-RATED:
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- In-Form or TOTW Moments Players: Min 1
- Squad Rating: Min 85
- Team Chemistry: Min 75
- Players in Squad: 11
- Reward: Premium Gold Players Pack
FIFA database website FUTBIN estimates that this SBC currently costs around 234,000 coins on PS4, 237,000 coins on Xbox One, and 206,000 coins on Origin.
Here is the current cheapest solution for the Serie A TIM component of this SBC, without requiring any loyalty or position change cards.
Here is the current cheapest solution for the 85-rated component, again with no loyalty or position-change cards required.
It’s important to note that the volatile nature of the FUT market means that card prices are always fluctuating, so the cost of doing this SBC could go up or down depending on when you attempt it.
Is Manolas’ FUT Birthday SBC worth doing?
Needless to say, Manolas’ FUT Birthday card features some stats that are end-game level, particularly when it comes to pace, defending, and physical and, of course, the five-star weak foot.
Now that he’s on Napoli, linking him to another quality CB isn’t an issue anymore since his teammate Koulibaly has plenty of special cards, including a recently released 91-rated TOTW Moments item.
Dumping over 200K coins into an untradeable SBC is always a risky move, particularly if you end up not liking the player or want to upgrade him in the future, but if you have a Serie A squad that he can fit into, or ICON defenders to link with, then this is definitely a move worth making.
Outside of that, if he doesn’t really fit your current team, it’s probably better to save the coinage for Team of the Season. Either way, you have until April 15 to make a decision before this SBC goes away for good.