EA Sports has published the list of the top 26 rated Premier League players in EA FC 26, a list headlined by Mohamed Salah and Rodri. The rankings double as an early look at Ultimate Team walkouts, the in-game term for player items rated 86 or higher.

Liverpool and Arsenal each register seven walkouts in FC 26. The coverage notes summer signings Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak among those for the league champions. Arsenal’s entries include Saliba, Saka, Rice and Gyökeres. Manchester City record six walkouts, including new goalkeeper Donnarumma, leaving City just behind the two sides that finished above them in the league.

Bruno Fernandes keeps the same overall rating from FC 25 to FC 26 despite a difficult season for Manchester United. Other Premier League clubs with multiple walkouts include Newcastle United and Chelsea.

Mohamed Salah is the highest rated player in the Premier League for EA FC 26 and is also the joint-highest rated Ultimate Team player alongside Kylian Mbappé.

A number of notable players receive downgrades at the start of the year, with Rodri, Haaland and Ødegaard listed among those reduced. Several familiar names are absent from the walkout list this year in the Premier League, including Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Emiliano Martínez. Players such as Trent Alexander-Arnold and Son Heung-min also miss out on walkouts in FC 26, a situation attributed in the notes to players transferring clubs over the summer.

The EA FC 26 reveal offers an early snapshot of how Ultimate Team will represent Premier League talent this season, and the distribution of walkouts underlines how summer moves and seasonal form have influenced opening ratings.

Hugo Ekitiké has acknowledged the selection challenge that follows Alexander Isak’s Deadline Day arrival at Liverpool, but he shifted responsibility for the decision to manager Arne Slot. The club spent £125 million on the new No. 9, and the expectation is that the club’s new No. 9 will surely be Slot’s first-choice option through the middle. Ekitiké, the 23-year-old Liverpool striker, offered a calm response when asked about the reshaped attacking options while on international duty for France.

“When you play for the best teams, you inevitably expect to be competing with the best players,” he told reporters. He added praise for Isak and outlined his own approach to the situation. “Isak is a player I watched, so seeing him arrive is a pleasure. It’s going to provide tough competition, but I’m going to focus on being good and performing well so that it’s just the coach’s problem.”

Those remarks underline a pragmatic mindset: accept the competition and force the coach into making selection choices. Slot has already indicated how he might deploy Ekitiké after Isak’s arrival. “I see Hugo mainly as a No. 9 that could also play from the left or play together with another No. 9,” the Dutch boss mused earlier this summer. That comment suggested Ekitiké may be moved wider or paired up when Isak leads the line centrally.

Beyond tactical questions, Ekitiké spoke about the personal impact of his transfer. He reflected on the move to Merseyside with simple enthusiasm. “My life has changed,” he gushed.

The situation frames Liverpool’s forward line as an internal contest between two established options and places the onus on Slot to balance form, fit and personnel. For Ekitiké, the route is clear: perform well and leave the selection headache to his manager.

Alexander Isak has said that not everyone knows “the whole picture” surrounding his summer move to Liverpool, a transfer that generated heated reaction and accusations. Newcastle offered a heated response just hours later and the saga deepened after his £125 million ($169.2 million) switch when Isak was accused of intentionally dropping his performance levels in the hope of sabotaging Newcastle’s Champions League aspirations.

The striker, who has since tried to calm tensions with Newcastle, made his first appearance of the season on Monday as he came off the bench for the final 20 minutes of Sweden’s surprise defeat to Kosovo. Speaking after the game, Isak addressed the transfer controversy for the first time.

“It’s great that things were cleared up before international duty and that I could focus on playing football again,” he told local media. “It’s been a fairly new situation for me, but you always learn and develop mentally off the pitch too.

“It is what it is. It’s clear that not everyone has the whole picture, but that’s something for another day. Right now, the disappointment is about this match and how it went. But at the same time, I have a positive feeling about the club team part that is coming.

“[Fan anger] is part of football. I can’t control everything that is said or written. But I’m glad I became a Liverpool player. That’s what I wanted and I’m happy about that.

“There is a lot to discuss, and it can be discussed for a long time. It has been educational, and I’m happy with the final result. I’m happy and proud to be a Liverpool player. I don’t want to go into details or talk about that situation too much. It is a closed chapter, but I have never had any problems.”

Liverpool supporters are awaiting his club debut, but Sweden boss Jon Dahl Tomasson warned that Isak is not yet ready for prolonged minutes after a long layoff. “This was the maximum number of minutes I could give him,” Tomasson told Viaplay. “We have talked in recent days about what risks there are and what is not a risk. It is extremely difficult to take a risk.

“I want to play him every minute. You can see right away that he is dangerous and creates things. But we also need him next month, the month after that, and next year.”