FIFA 13: Alex Oxlade Chamberlain & Joe Hart Cover Stars

In contradiction of my own prediction that Manchester United's new star striker Robin Van Persie would adorn the cover of this year's FIFA installment EA Sports have today unveiled two entirely different stars in the brand new boxart reveal of FIFA 13. Manchester City and England star Joe Hart will star alongside Arsenal's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with already revealed cover icon Lionel Messi for this year's edition of the game. And here she is...

Oxlade-Chamberlain said that he has been a keen FIFA player since the age of six and that being on the cover is a "massive honour", while Hart said that while he's not the greatest FIFA player in the world he enjoys the game and the banter that comes with playing with his Man City team-mates. The cover is actually different to the original blacked-out version that was teased late last week, and it seems the developer may have changed their mind about who to include at the last minute, unless the tease was merely intentional misdirection to throw us all off the scent. Because it certainly looked to my trained eyes like Robin Van Persie was on the left, while the right hand image is now seemingly a flipped version of Oxlade-Chamberlain. This is the first time in seven seasons that EA hasn't featured Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney as the FIFA cover star, after both parties "mutually agreed" not to renew the deal, according to the developer:

"Wayne and the FIFA franchise have achieved phenomenal success but the time feels right for both parties to explore other avenues. We wish Wayne the very best of luck in the future and we look forward to him accomplishing even greater success for both club and country."

You can watch the full reveal press conference for FIFA 13, including interviews with both English cover stars below... http://youtu.be/tTe0xKe29yA FIFA 13 is released on 28th September 2012. Buy yours here.