Nico Williams
Athletic Club · Midfielder · Spain · 1,723 min
Ballity Verdict
What makes this player special?
Nico Williams is at his best when the game opens into one-versus-one battles out wide. For Athletic Club, that means stretch, isolation, and the ability to beat a full-back before the box gets crowded — not a pure chance-creation spreadsheet profile. The headline trait is wide runner.
What separates Williams from ordinary specialists is breadth inside a coherent family: credible as wide runner, and still trustworthy when asked to step toward duelist winger. That is versatility with a purpose — not a random scatter of average roles.
On the pitch he has actually been used as LW / CF (#9). That matters: skill-set breadth is one thing; demonstrated deployment is another. Williams's authenticity claim starts from those minutes, not from a role board alone.
The trade-off is real: duelist 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: wide runner, duelist winger, playmaking winger, raumdeuter
- Shown minutes: LW / CF (#9)
- Known caveat: duelist
Receipts
- · Player Profile
- · Role Breadth
- · Deployment authenticity
- · Sample · featured
Position
Wide Forward
Appearances
19
Great+ roles
2
Age
23
Preferred foot
Right
Height
180 cm
Ballity insights
Peer context vs wingers — how often they get the ball and what they do with it. Separate from role tiers above. Attackers also split separation into on-ball (dribble-created) and off-ball (movement).
Usage rate
Share of team touches (non-GK) among wingers with match data.
13.7% team touches
Peer band · Average
Pool percentile
50.0%
Also 54.4 touches/90 (season aggregate).
Efficiency
Output quality per action for wingers.
30 score
Peer band · Average
Pool percentile
65.7%
On-ball separation
Dribble-created space and self-made shot quality.
44 score
Peer band · Elite
Pool percentile
97.1%
Off-ball separation
Movement-created space on assisted attempts.
49 score
Peer band · High
Pool percentile
75.5%
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 Duelist (Great)
Weak routes
Defensive contribution
Proxy only · confidence: proxy — not a role tier
Proxy p29 · Actions p35 within winger peers
Stat profile
Within Winger 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
35.6
Breadth 20.1 · Depth 15.5
- ·Wingers: Wide Runner (Elite), Duelist Winger (Great), Playmaking Winger (Good), Raumdeuter (Good)
- ·Forwards: Target Man (Good), Poacher (Good)
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 winger 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.
Nicolas Pépé
Villarreal · La Liga 24/25
Closest roles
Wide RunnerΔ7
Playmaking WingerΔ11
RaumdeuterΔ3
Rio Ngumoha
Liverpool · PL 25/26
Closest roles
- Wide RunnerΔ13
Duelist WingerΔ6- Playmaking WingerΔ8
Noah Edjouma
Lille · Ligue 1
Closest roles
- Duelist WingerΔ36
- Playmaking WingerΔ30
- Wide RunnerΔ47