Como makes it Three with Nico Paz

Cesc Fàbregas’ star will lead Como into the club’s historic first European campaign. Como begin the 2026/27 season with the most important confirmation of all. Nico Paz will remain on the shores of Lake Como for at least one more year, ready to lead the Lariani into the club’s first-ever UEFA Champions League campaign. For Fàbregas, the city and the entire Biancoblù community, it means keeping the cornerstone of the project in place: the Argentine is not only the fans’ undisputed idol, but also the player who most embodies the ambitions, identity and future of Como’s vision.

With Nico Paz in Biancoblù, Como can look ahead to next season with confidence. The beacon that has guided the club over the past two years will continue to shape the Lariani’s play in a campaign that will see them step onto the European stage for the very first time. Como has always felt like the right place for the former Real Madrid talent, thanks to the stimulating environment created by Fàbregas at the Mozzate training centre and a city that welcomed him with open arms, allowing him to announce himself to the world and earn a call-up to the Argentina national team.

Who Is Nico Paz? The Argentine talent who transformed Como

Nicolás Paz Martínez, born on 8 September 2004 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, has transformed Serie A Enilive over the past two seasons. Developed in Real Madrid's academy as one of the club's brightest prospects, the Argentine has brought to the league once graced by Baggio, Totti, Del Piero and Kaká a rare blend of technical quality, physicality and game intelligence.

His impact was immediate. In his first season in Italy, he was named “Serie A Enilive's Best Under-23 Player for 2024/25”; in his second, he won the Best Midfielder award for 2025/26. It has been a remarkable rise, backed up by numbers that show just how quickly Nico Paz established himself as one of the league's standout players.

In his debut campaign, he finished first for successful dribbles (69), second for total shot involvements (164) and second for total shots (110). The following season, he raised the bar even higher, leading the league for total shots (121), shots on target (46), long-range attempts (70), open-play shots (102), direct free-kick attempts (18) and smart passes alongside Charles De Ketelaere (15). Dribbling also remained a defining feature of his game, with 67 successful take-ons in his second Serie A season.

In total, he has already recorded 19 goals and 16 assists in 75 appearances for Como across Serie A and the Coppa Italia Frecciarossa. Much of his influence comes through his magical left foot, delivering defence-splitting passes for his teammates and unleashing powerful strikes on goal. Como's number 10 combines explosive acceleration and physical strength with outstanding tactical intelligence and exquisite technique. He can finish with delicate touches, precise placements or thunderous efforts, and across his first two Serie A campaigns he has already scored six spectacular goals from outside the box, each more memorable than the last.

Why Nico Paz is the perfect player for Fàbregas

Nico Paz is a complete footballer. His talent, flashes of brilliance and footballing imagination evoke the classic Argentine number 10, the enganche, so much so that Lionel Messi included him at the top of his list of the world's ten brightest young talents last autumn.

But reducing him to creativity alone would be misleading. Paz is also a modern attacking midfielder, comfortable influencing every area of the pitch and dictating the direction of his team's build-up play. He does far more than make an impact in the final third: he links play, creates, combines and presses relentlessly. He is the bridge between the myth of the pibe, the street footballer capable of moments of pure magic, and the modern game, built on spatial awareness, intensity and constant counter-pressing.

That is precisely why he is the ideal player for Cesc Fàbregas: a creative talent who does not disrupt his team's balance, but enhances it.

More than goals and assists: Nico Paz leads the pressing too

Fàbregas' Como is one of the most innovative teams in Serie A Enilive. Their philosophy is built on counter-pressing, possession football and maximising the quality of their players in the final third. The numbers back it up: the Lariani finished fifth in the league for high turnovers and first for possession, averaging 61%. 

Such an ambitious system requires courage, a high-defensive line and complete trust in the team's ability to win one-on-one duels at both ends of the pitch. Nico Paz is the player who holds it all together for Fàbregas: an elite dribbler capable of creating numerical superiority in attack, while also showing complete commitment to pressing high and competing aggressively for every ball.

His tackling numbers tell the story: 69 successful tackles, among the best in the league. Added to that are 53 fouls committed, the eighth-highest total in Serie A, and 12 yellow cards across two seasons with Como; evidence of the competitive edge that complements his outstanding technical ability.

Paz has fully embraced Fàbregas' style of football, and Fàbregas' football, in turn, brings out the very best in him. The former Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder regards him as the squad's most valuable player because of the unique combination of exceptional technical quality and his imposing 1.86-metre physical presence.

Como**’s future still runs through Nico Paz**

After shattering expectations, breaking records and helping rewrite Como's history in just two Serie A seasons, Nico Paz is preparing for an even more ambitious campaign. Ahead lie the club's first-ever UEFA Champions League appearance and a league season in which they will aim to improve on last year's fourth-place finish.

For both Paz and Como, the ceiling still feels a long way off—or perhaps simply a little higher. Because on the shores of Lake Como, one question now echoes above all others: is the Como way simply the Paz way?