Strikers from Uruguay tend to arrive in Spain with a certain reputation: tall, stubborn, happy to be kicked. Gonzalo Petit fits the outline. He is 1.91 metres of centre forward, and Real Betis thought enough of him to pay around 6 million euros to Nacional in July 2025 and tie him down until 2031. What Betis did next was revealing. They didn't keep him. They sent him to LaLiga2 twice in one season.
That makes Petit an interesting case right now. He turned 20 on September 21, 2026, and the question is no longer whether he can score as a teenager. It is whether he can do it at the level Betis bought him for.
Card on the table
| Full name | Gonzalo Ezequiel Petit Abad |
|---|---|
| Born | September 21, 2006, in Carmelo, Colonia Department, Uruguay |
| Age | 20 |
| Nationality | Uruguayan |
| Height and weight | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in), about 74 kg (163 lbs) |
| Position | Centre forward |
| Preferred foot | Right |
| Parent club | Real Betis, contract to June 30, 2031 |
| Fee paid by Betis | Around 6 million euros (July 2025) |
| Previous clubs | Nacional; CD Mirandés (loan); Granada CF (loan) |
| Usual shirt number | 9 |
| Youth international | Uruguay U15, U17 and U20 (8 U20 caps, 2 goals) |
| FC 26 overall | 71 |
| Estimated net worth | $500,000 to $1,000,000 (Icon Polls estimate) |
A basketball father and a Nacional grandfather
Sport runs through the family. His maternal grandfather, Washington Abad, played for Nacional in the early 1970s. His father, Eugenio Petit, went a different way: he was a basketball player who won the Campeonato Uruguayo Federal with Aguada in 1974 and 1976. So when the grandson eventually pulled on a Nacional shirt, it was less a breakthrough than a homecoming.
Before that came Artigas, a local club in Carmelo, a small city on the Río de la Plata side of the country. From there he moved into Nacional's academy and signed his first professional contract in March 2023.
Seventeen and already starting
Petit made his senior debut for Nacional in May 2024, aged 17. He didn't drift around the fringes for long. Over 34 appearances across the league, domestic cups and Copa Libertadores qualifying, he scored 12 goals, and he was part of the squad that won the 2024 Torneo Intermedio.
A goal every three games or so, in a senior league, before turning 19. That is the kind of record that gets European scouts on planes, and it did.
Six million euros, then two loans
Betis signed him in July 2025 and loaned him straight to CD Mirandés in the Segunda División. In roughly 21 appearances during the first half of 2025/2026 he scored 5 goals and added an assist. In January 2026 that loan ended early and he moved on to Granada CF, also in LaLiga2, wearing the number 9.
Granada got the better version. Across about 27 appearances he scored 6 goals with 1 assist, including one in a 5 to 1 win over Real Valladolid in February and another in a 2 to 0 away win at Real Sociedad B in March.
Reading the numbers honestly
Add it up and Petit sits at more than 60 senior appearances and around 23 goals. Impressive for his age. But split it apart and the picture is more nuanced.
- Nacional: 12 goals in 34 games.
- Mirandés: 5 goals in about 21 games.
- Granada: 6 goals in about 27 games.
So in Spain it is 11 goals in roughly 48 second division matches. That is respectable for a teenager adjusting to a new country, a new style and two dressing rooms in six months. It isn't yet the output of a striker who walks into a La Liga lineup. Our read: the physical tools and the habit of turning up in the box are real, and the scoring rate in Spain is the part that has to climb.
What the money looks like
No official salary figure has been published for Petit, and we won't pretend otherwise. What is known is the shape of it. His wages at Nacional were modest, and the Betis deal through 2031 lifted them significantly. During the loans, his pay is believed to have been shared between Betis and the host club.
Putting salary, bonuses and any small endorsement income together, Icon Polls estimates his net worth at $500,000 to $1,000,000. Comfortable for a 20 year old, modest by La Liga standards. A first team role at Betis or a senior Uruguay call up would change that quickly.
On the market side, valuation sites put him somewhere between 1.5 million and 4.3 million euros as of 2026. The low end reflects that he hasn't played in La Liga; the high end leans on his age and that long contract. Either way, it sits below what Betis paid, which tells you he is still being priced on promise.
Petit on a controller
Gamers have already noticed him. EA Sports FC 26 gives him a 71 overall with notably higher potential, and his in game profile mirrors the real one: strong heading, jumping and strength, decent finishing and long shots. For Career Mode, he is a sensible young striker to develop. Football Manager 2026 rates him well too, valuing him at around 5 million pounds with an asking price that can reach 15 million pounds.
The question Betis has to answer
His Granada loan was set to run until June 30, 2026, with a return to Betis for preseason expected after that. What Betis decided for 2026/2027, another loan or a place in the senior squad, is the single biggest variable in his career right now, and it should shape every number in this article over the next year.
Internationally, he has 8 caps and 2 goals for Uruguay's U20s but no senior call up yet. Given the country's appetite for big, combative number 9s, that door is far from closed.
Petit isn't on the shortlist of all time greats, obviously. But if you have opinions on who the striker generation before him should be measured against, cast a vote in our poll on the best football players of all time.
Three things readers ask
How tall is Gonzalo Petit?
He stands 1.91 metres, roughly 6 feet 3 inches, and weighs about 74 kg. That frame is a big part of his aerial threat.
Has he won anything?
Yes. He was part of the Nacional squad that won Uruguay's 2024 Torneo Intermedio.
What shirt number does he wear?
Usually 9, at both Nacional and Granada, though he has also worn 10, 22 and 24 at different points.
