FIFA 17 Ultimate Team: Lionel Messi's Full Team of the Year In-Game Stats

Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi took his rightful place in FIFA 17's Team of the Year on Monday after following his nomination to the FIFPro World XI by taking his place in Ultimate Team's dream lineup. 

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was handed a 98 rating and a new set of stats to go along with his sparkling Team of the Year card, as EA Sports announced the arrival of arguably the most valuable card FIFA 17 is likely to see:

As if Messi's existing FUT 17 cards weren't fearsome enough, the Argentina icon has been rewarded for his 2016 exploits with a TOTY dribbling rating of 99, a shooting score of 99 and a slightly less impressive pace stat of 97.

Below is a breakdown of the card's in-game stats, detailing some of the more minute statistics in six different fields, including pace, shooting passing, dribbling, defending and physical, per FUTHead.com:

Shooting 90 > 99	Pace 92 > 97	Passing 88 > 97	Dribbling 97 > 99	Defending 30 > 45	Physical 65 > 80
Positioning 95 > 99	Acceleration 93 > 99	Vision 92 > 99	Agility 90 > 92	Interceptions 25 > 38	Jumping 72 > 89
Finishing 97 > 99	Sprint Speed 87 > 94	Crossing 78 > 86	Balance 95 > 97	Heading 81 > 99	Stamina 78 > 97
Shot Power 84 > 91		Free-Kick 92 > 99	Reactions 95 > 97	Marking 14 >22	Strength 62 > 77
Long Shots 89 > 96		Short Passing 90 > 99	Ball Control 95 > 97	Standing Tackle 32 > 48	Aggression 51 > 62
Volleys 86 > 93		Long Passing 89 > 98	Dribbling 98 > 99	Sliding Tackle 29 > 45
Penalties 75 > 81		Curve 91 > 99

Acceleration has always been among Messi's biggest strengths, but the trait is now one of nine pushed to a maximum of 99, along with his finishing, free-kick, short passing, vision, curve, positioning, heading and—of course—dribbling.

Messi's free-kick score has been pushed to the game's limit, and it perhaps isn't much of a surprise after the South American sizzled home a stupendous effort in Sunday's 1-1 draw at Villarreal, via Sky Sports La Liga:

One particular statistic that looked as though it deserved more of a boost for Messi's Team of the Year card was his agility, which received just a two-point boost to 92, although a sprint speed of 94 may help make up for that "weakness."

Players may also look forward to utilising Messi more from corner situations if they land his TOTY card too, considering his heading ability has been pushed 18 points from a decent 81 to an altogether more dangerous 99.

The diminutive attacker doesn't boast the same physical impression as 6'1" Real Madrid counterpart Cristiano Ronaldo, but this latest upgrade means 5'7" Messi is a threat all the same if one can pick him out with the ball.

The Argentinian also stands to pose a greater threat in the latter stages of matches with his TOTY edition after seeing his stamina improve from 78 to a devastating 98.