FIFA 23: A dirt cheap defender scares attackers

In FIFA 23 there are many strong defenders like Rüdiger, Tomori or Militao. But they are very expensive. Another, particularly cheap central defender can also defend goals terrifically: Ronald Araujo.

What kind of player is this? Ronald Araujo plays for FC Barcelona and in FIFA 23 can play both the position of central defender and right-back. All you need is a position modifier.

According to the current status, his card in Ultimate Team costs just under 1,000 coins, making it a real bargain. But don’t let the low price fool you: Araujo is making a name for himself in the FIFA community as a really tough defender.

His card is rated 83, but he has exactly the stats you’d need from a strong central defender in FIFA 23 if you look closely. This is especially true if you equip it with a “shadow” chemistry style at full chemistry.

• The pace value of 77 consists of a 68 acceleration but also an 84 sprint speed. When Araujo gets going, he’s really fast.
• With the “Shadow” this even increases to an 85 speed value with 76 acceleration and 92 sprint speed. This is really good.
• Araujo also gets the strong lengthy running style with “Shadow”.
• The defensive value increases to 90 with Shadow, with none of the defensive values ​​below 86.
• Physically, Araujo is also in good shape with good values ​​for jumping (87), strength (86) and aggression (84).

Yes, Araujo is not great at shooting, passing and dribbling. But the defender doesn’t need that to destroy the opponent’s offensive. Apparently some FIFA players think so too.

This is what players are saying about Araujo in FIFA 23

If you look at futbin’s ranking of the most popular central defenders in FIFA 23, Araujo has moved up to second place among users – only behind Rulebreakers Alaba.

The special thing about it: It leaves significantly more expensive cards, such as Rüdiger, Koundé and Varane, but also icons such as Gullit or Matthäus behind in the ranking. By the way, you can find more powerful cards for fewer coins here.

While these cards can be better than Araujo, you can’t beat the value for money. The defender also made an impression on the FIFA subreddit.

For example, one user asked, “What’s the most annoying card you’ve played against this year?” He himself cites Araujo as an example: “For me, it’s Araujo every time I play him, no matter how bad the opponent is, he’s always way too fast and strong for any attacker I use,” writes user EPICKID143 (via reddit).

Then others step in:

• “Araujo at right-back,” replies one user (via. reddit), even describing him as “the best right-back he’s ever seen” (via. reddit).
• “I came here to say this because I thought I was the only one playing this map on RV… the most frustrating thing I’ve experienced in FIFA in a long time,” agrees another (via. reddit).
• “He’s Kimpembe Version 2,” says one user (via. reddit). Kimpembe has been a defender in past FIFAs, much stronger than his stats suggested.
• “For the price – definitely Araujo. Expensive – Haaland. Mainly because everyone uses it” (via. reddit).
• “Danjuma and Araujo make me very angry” (via. reddit).

Danjuma and Haaland are other names that often come up in the discussion, as do Darwin Nunez, Ousmane Dembélé and Alexander Sorloth. But when it comes to defense, Araujo seems to fill a niche that hardly any other defender can match for this price.

So if you’re looking for a strong defender for your team that doesn’t cost too many coins, Araujo might be worth a try – especially if you already have LaLiga players on your team and can fit him in so well with full chemistry .

Which players do you prefer to use in FIFA 23? And which ones do you dislike at all? Tell us in the comments.

Speaking of cheap, strong players: In attack, an unusual striker was able to draw attention to himself recently.