Pablo Fornals
Real Betis · Midfielder · Spain · 2,865 min
Ballity Verdict
What makes this player special?
Pablo Fornals covers both boxes. He is not a specialist who only protects or only arrives late — he is the midfielder who can win it, carry it, and still show up in the final third. That two-way presence is what makes him hard to replace in Real Betis's structure.
What separates Fornals from ordinary specialists is breadth inside a coherent family: credible as box-to-box midfielder, 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. Fornals's authenticity claim starts from those minutes, not from a role board alone.
The trade-off is real: ball_progressor 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: box-to-box midfielder, box crasher, creator
- Shown minutes: CM (#8) / AM (#10)
- Known caveat: ball_progressor
Receipts
- · Player Profile
- · Role Breadth
- · Deployment authenticity
- · Sample · featured
Position
Midfielder
Appearances
37
Great+ roles
1
Age
30
Preferred foot
Right
Height
178 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.
15.8% team touches
Peer band · High
Pool percentile
84.8%
Also 73.9 touches/90 (season aggregate).
Efficiency
Output quality per action for midfielders.
63 score
Peer band · Average
Pool percentile
52.9%
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 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
23.5
Breadth 10.1 · Depth 13.4
- ·Midfielders: Box-to-Box Midfielder (Great), Creator (Great), Deep-Lying Playmaker (Great), Box Crasher (Good), Carrier (Good)
Versatility shape
Coarse directional pattern (Specialist / Dual-threat / Generalist) — not the 0–100 Index above.
Specialist
Great SpecialistDistinct Great+
1 Great+ roles total
Box-to-box
GreatBox-to-Box Midfielder
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.
Carlos Soler
Real Sociedad · La Liga
Closest roles
Deep-Lying PlaymakerΔ7
Box CrasherΔ4
Box-to-BoxΔ22
Nadiem Amiri
1. FSV Mainz 05 · Bundesliga 24/25
Closest roles
CreatorΔ9- Box-to-BoxΔ13
- Box CrasherΔ12
Mario Pašalić
Atalanta · Serie A
Closest roles
- CreatorΔ9
- Box CrasherΔ3
- Box-to-BoxΔ18