Ismael Koné
Sassuolo · Midfielder · Canada · 2,756 min
Ballity Verdict
What makes this player special?
Ismael Koné is the kind of midfielder coaches build possession around. At Sassuolo, his real value is not goals or highlight assists — it is how cleanly he moves the team from safe zones into dangerous ones, almost never giving the ball away cheaply. Ballity's clearest read is carrier: he controls games more than he decides them.
What separates Koné from ordinary specialists is breadth inside a coherent family: credible as carrier, and still trustworthy when asked to step toward box crasher. That is versatility with a purpose — not a random scatter of average roles.
On the pitch he has actually been used as CM (#8) / AM (#10). That matters: skill-set breadth is one thing; demonstrated deployment is another. Koné's authenticity claim starts from those minutes, not from a role board alone.
The trade-off is real: chance_creation shows up as a structural caveat in the profile. Any club buying the upside has to decide whether that hole is tolerable in their system — or whether they will need complementary players beside him.
Why Ballity says this
- Midfield / role totality: carrier, box crasher, deep-lying playmaker
- Shown minutes: CM (#8) / AM (#10)
- Known caveat: chance_creation
Receipts
- · Player Profile
- · Role Breadth
- · Deployment authenticity
- · Sample · featured
Position
Midfielder
Appearances
35
Great+ roles
3
Age
24
Preferred foot
Right
Height
188 cm
Ballity insights
Peer context vs midfielders — how often they get the ball and what they do with it. Separate from role tiers above.
Usage rate
Share of team touches (non-GK) among midfielders with match data.
11.8% team touches
Peer band · Minimal
Pool percentile
20.6%
Also 49.8 touches/90 (season aggregate).
Efficiency
Output quality per action for midfielders.
68 score
Peer band · Elite
Pool percentile
93.2%
Balance & structural weaknesses
How complete this player is on the position's job board — strengths and holes.
How we define this
Two-way = Great+ on ≥2 complementary axes. One-way = every other route Limited/closed. Weak routes = Average holes on complementary axes.
Strong as Chance Creation (Great), Ball Progressor (Great)
Weak routes
Stat profile
Within position peers — percentile shape (not role scores).
Versatility Index
Precise 0–100 score — cross-group breadth (67%) plus within-group depth (33%), quality-scaled by tier. Distinct from the shape card below.
Index
49.0
Breadth 33.5 · Depth 15.5
- ·Fullbacks: Playmaking FB (Great)
- ·Midfielders: Carrier (Elite), Box Crasher (Great), Deep-Lying Playmaker (Good)
- ·Forwards: Poacher (Great)
Versatility shape
Coarse directional pattern (Specialist / Dual-threat / Generalist) — not the 0–100 Index above.
Generalist
Great GeneralistDistinct Great+
3 Great+ roles total
Where he plays
Positions with deployment evidence — not statistical guesses.
Natural
Role translations
Where the profile could fit. Tap a position — then see which role style suits it.
Select a position on the pitch to see the best role, alternatives, and evidence.
Role-by-role detail
How each role is scored. Expand a row for a radar of role-shaped stats.
Similar players
Shape match across midfielder roles — cosine similarity of role scores (domestic leagues only). Slot 1 is the best same-league match; the rest are the next closest from the full pool.
Lassana Coulibaly
Lecce · Serie A
Closest roles
CarrierΔ15
Box CrasherΔ15
Deep-Lying PlaymakerΔ11
Junior Mwanga
Nantes · Ligue 1
Closest roles
- CarrierΔ1
- Deep-Lying PlaymakerΔ16
- Box CrasherΔ23
Vitinha
Paris Saint-Germain · Ligue 1 24/25
Closest roles
- CarrierΔ1
- Box CrasherΔ10
- Deep-Lying PlaymakerΔ5