Future Stars have arrived in EA FC 24's UT, and of course ‘young’ Wayne Rooney looks about 35

Some fresh cards arrived in EA Sports FC 24’s Ultimate Team over the weekend, and they’re all players who either are or were once wonderkids - Future Stars, if you will. Naturally, Wayne Rooney’s one of the Icons that’s come with the event, and players can’t quite decide whether the fact his supposedly younger in-game model looks about 35 is accurate.

It’s been a rather issue-laden time in EA’s footy sim recently, with an SBC with a design issue having dished out far too many TOTY Messis before it was quickly taken offline and pro clubs not allocating points properly. So, EA’s no doubt hoping that a fresh update and this latest Ultimate Team event can help it to win back some brownie points with the community.

As detailed by the developer, the Future Stars cards that’ve arrived in the game since the promotion launched last thing on Friday are split into two categories. There are current under-23 players who’re upgradeable in line with the potential they’re judged to have as of right now, and Icons representing the periods of some legends’ careers when they were just starting to make their mark.

The latter are designed to come with “younger [starheads] on the pitch for a nostalgic look back at who they were as they rose to stardom”, though whether the one that’s been given to Wayne Rooney matches that description is causing a bit of debate among EA FC players. Yes, someone’s posted a slightly unflattering snap of the Future Stars Rooney that arrived as part of the event’s first Icons team on Reddit, and their assertion that he “looks 35” has kicked off a full discussion about the ageing process.

The crux of it is this: ever since he ceased to be a teenager with the looks of an overgrown ten year old, Wayne Rooney’s arguably always looked older than he actually is. I’m not quite sure I’d go quite as far as those in the thread who reckon he looks like he’s closing in on 60 despite only being 38, but you get the idea.

To me, it looks like EA could possibly have done a slightly better job of making the ex-Man United forward’s Future Stars visage mirror the image of a young him that’s been used on the card, especially from a hairline perspective. That said, if his current state can make EA FC players who’re in their 30s feel slightly better about themselves, who are we to get in the way of that?

If you’re planning on jumping into EA Sports FC 24 Ultimate Team soon to try and score some Future Stars, make sure to check out our guide to the best cheap top-notch players to use for SBCs.