After discovering a legitimate return to form for PES last week, we've been sifting through our advance copy of FIFA 17 in the office and you're in luck - because it's thoroughly enjoyable.
Unless you're French, however, or indeed a fan of the great Zinedine Zidane. FIFA 17 sees a return to the glory days of, well, EA Sports' FIFA World Cup 2014 entry, in which managers feature prominently during cut-aways when the ball goes out of play.
Earlier today, someone else who got a sneak peak of the new FIFA instalment - namely Julien Froment of Europe 1 - scared the bejaysus out of his compatriots with a screenshot of Zizou standing on the sideline in his capacity as Real Madrid boss. At first (and indeed second and third) glance, it seemed the legendary French midfielder had been struck down by some sort of incapacitating illness.
#Zidane dans @EASPORTSFIFA #Fifa17 hum woké...! pic.twitter.com/dnc4AbRzky
— Julien Froment (@JulienFroment) September 23, 2016
Jesus Christ almighty, that's obscene. And people were far from impressed.
Indeed, even France's leading sports publication, L'Équipe, took umbrage with one of their icons being butchered so flagrantly.
Zidane défiguré dans Fifa 17 https://t.co/bexz4vVwt7
— L'ÉQUIPE (@lequipe) September 23, 2016
Prefacing their story with information about 'bugs' in the game, they wrote:
Another "mistake" that ready smile, digital avatar of Zinedine Zidane, whose face has little in common with the real football legend. "Zizou" suddenly took twenty years ...
So what the hell is going on? Well, the answer is relatively straightforward, and if anything a little disappointing. EA Sports only have a licence to show real Premier League managers in FIFA 17, and are not licenced to have the real faces of managers from any other league. Hence this horrendous impostor - 'White Manager #2' posing in Zizou's stead, next to the pristinely digitalised José Mourinho.
We're sure they'll expand to other leagues eventually, but presumably the Premier League was their priority with the franchise's intriguing new story mode focusing solely on English football.
Stay tuned to our Facebook this evening, as Mikey Traynor and Gavan Casey will be going live to take you through the ins and outs of FIFA 17.
