David Beckham deal

David Beckham is set to cash in from appearing on FIFA 21, with reports suggesting he will earn £40million over the next three years. Initially, it was thought he would earn £30m, but the guys over at Invader said that there are suggestions he has managed to get a ‘better deal for himself’.

The former Manchester United, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, and LA Galaxy midfielder, will see his MLS franchise Inter Miami feature in the game which was released back in October. To date, FIFA 21 has sold over 300 million copies worldwide, but Beckham has still managed to capitalise on his brand despite being retired. Nevertheless, FIFA 21 will provide a bigger source of income than when he was lacing up his boots and playing for some of Europe’s biggest clubs.

Beckham is set to see his earnings rise dramatically from FIFA 21 and according to reports, it is the ‘easiest money he has ever made’. However, there are a handful of high-profile footballers who have major gripes with the game and the game’s producers EA Sports. Essentially, it has revolved around the way FIFA 21 and EA Sports have been making money from the naming rights of players, who want to negotiate their own image rights.

Zlatan Ibrahimović unhappy

Zlatan Ibrahimović has been very vocal about the issue and took to Twitter to express his ire.

He tweeted: “Who gave FIFA EA Sport permission to use my name and face? @FIFAPro? I’m not aware to be a member of Fifpro and if I am, I was put there without any real knowledge through some weird manoeuvre.

“And for sure I never allowed @FIFAcom or Fifpro to make money using me.”

Gareth Bale – who is currently on loan at Tottenham from Real Madrid – waded in on the debate and he conceded he was confused as to who FifPro are. The Welshman’s agent, Jonathan Barnett, suggested he was exploring possible action.

He said: “At the moment, the players don’t get paid. Our biggest gripe is that Fifa are coming out with lots of rules and regulations saying that they are looking after the best interests of players but obviously they don’t.”

Clearing up naming rights

FIFA 21 features more than 7,000 players, 700 teams, 90 stadiums and 30 leagues. But as far as the naming rights debate is concerned, FIFA 21 have denied any wrongdoing.

A statement from EA Sports read: “The current situation being played out on social media is an attempt to draw FIFA 21 into a dispute between a number of third parties and has little to do with EA Sports.

“To be noticeably clear, we have contractual rights to include the likeness of all players currently in our game.

“As already stated, we acquire these licenses directly from leagues, teams, and individual players. In addition, we work with FifPro to ensure we can include as many players as we can to create the most authentic game.”