Manuel Locatelli
Juventus · Midfielder · Italy · 2,061 min
Ballity Verdict
What makes this player special?
Manuel Locatelli is the kind of midfielder coaches build possession around. At Juventus, 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 ball winner: he controls games more than he decides them.
What separates Locatelli from ordinary specialists is breadth inside a coherent family: credible as ball winner, and still trustworthy when asked to step toward deep-lying playmaker. That is versatility with a purpose — not a random scatter of average roles.
On the pitch he has actually been used as CM (#8) / DM (#6). That matters: skill-set breadth is one thing; demonstrated deployment is another. Locatelli's authenticity claim starts from those minutes, not from a role board alone.
There are no major weakness flags screaming from the current profile — which does not mean he is complete, only that the main story is the strength of what he already does.
Why Ballity says this
- Midfield / role totality: ball winner, deep-lying playmaker
- Shown minutes: CM (#8) / DM (#6)
- No major weakness flags in the current profile
Receipts
- · Player Profile
- · Role Breadth
- · Deployment authenticity
- · Sample · featured
Position
Midfielder
Appearances
25
Great+ roles
2
Age
28
Preferred foot
Right
Height
185 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.
19.2% team touches
Peer band · High
Pool percentile
74.0%
Also 89.3 touches/90 (season aggregate).
Efficiency
Output quality per action for midfielders.
67 score
Peer band · Elite
Pool percentile
88.0%
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), Physicality (Great)
Stat profile
Within Midfielder 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
23.7
Breadth 13.4 · Depth 10.3
- ·Midfielders: Box-to-Box Midfielder (Elite), Ball Winner (Great), Deep-Lying Playmaker (Great)
Versatility shape
Coarse directional pattern (Specialist / Dual-threat / Generalist) — not the 0–100 Index above.
Dual-threat
Great Dual-threatDistinct Great+
2 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.
Samuele Ricci
Torino · Serie A 24/25
Closest roles
Deep-Lying PlaymakerΔ20
Ball WinnerΔ26
Duel DestroyerΔ7
Josh Cullen
Burnley · PL 25/26
Closest roles
- Deep-Lying PlaymakerΔ10
- Ball WinnerΔ38
Box-to-BoxΔ35
Nahuel Estévez
Parma · Serie A
Closest roles
- Deep-Lying PlaymakerΔ33
- Box-to-BoxΔ31
CreatorΔ6