Como’s Champions League push under Cesc Fabregas is not the fairytale it seems

Take a glance at the Serie A table and there’s one team you might not be too accustomed to seeing in and around the top four, but there they are: Como.

On the surface, it looks like one of the stories of the season in European football. In many ways, it is. This is a club that was competing in the fourth tier of Italian football as recently as seven years ago. Before that, they had last played in the top flight back in 2003. Now, after promotions in 2019, 2021 and 2024, Como are Serie A material again – and not just making up the numbers.

You’ve heard of their manager. Cesc Fabregas was a sublime player at his peak for the likes of Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea. Now, after retiring with Como in 2023, he is in charge of one of Italian football’s most ambitious projects, deservedly earning plaudits for getting his team into contention for European qualification.

With nine games left this season, Como find themselves fourth in the Serie A table, solely below both Milan clubs and the defending champions, Napoli.

A win over now-sixth-placed Roma recently strengthened their bid for Champions League qualification. They are also above fifth-placed Juventus by a point.

Everyone likes an underdog story. In a world where fans collectively rallied against the European Super League five years ago, it is usually refreshing to see different clubs breaking into the Champions League on sporting merit. Not to mention one playing in front of such a picturesque backdrop as the lakeside outfit (whose stadium, we hasten to add, unsurprisingly does not yet meet UEFA standards).

But dig deeper into the Como project and it all isn’t quite the underdog story it seems.

Let’s start with the most obvious factor; Como have unbelievable money behind them.

Their owners are Indonesia’s Djarum Group, a wealthy conglomerate from the tobacco industry led by brothers Michael and Robert Budi Hartono. Michael Hartono passed away this week at the age of 86.

Prior to his passing, according to Forbes, the Hartono brothers’ combined net worth was approximately $35.7 billion. For perspective, Gerry Cardinale, the founder of the RedBird group that controls AC Milan, has a net worth of $1.8 billion.

In terms of Como’s direct competitors for the fourth spot in Serie A, Roma’s Dan Friedkin’s net worth is $10.9 billion and Juventus’ John Elkann’s is $2.5 billion.

Of course, not all of those sums of money belong exclusively to the clubs in question. Even whatever is spent by clubs does not guarantee success. But it has to be taken into account as a factor behind Como’s ascent. They may have come from low down the leagues in Italy, but this is no rags to riches story. The riches were there from the Djarum Group’s acquisition of the club in 2019.

Furthermore, Thierry Henry is a minority shareholder, as well as Fabregas himself.

In fairness to Como, they have invested smartly. Most of the players they have signed are prospects with potential, ensuring a sustainable future. While Fabregas himself was a big name to add to their squad in Serie B whilst at the tail end of his career, the current Como set-up is notable for its youthfulness on the pitch.

As things stand, Como have the fourth youngest average age (25.6) of players used in their squad this season in Serie A. Their three outfield players who have logged the most minutes of gametime in the league are former/future Real Madrid prospects Nico Paz and Jacobo Ramon, both 21, and the 23-year-old ex-Manchester City man, Maximo Perrone.

Captain Lucas De Cunha is only 24, although there are some more senior leaders in the form of familiar faces like Sergi Roberto, Alvaro Morata, Alberto Moreno and Diego Carlos.

All in all, they seem to have the balance right. But there is another aspect of their squad-building that has drawn serious scrutiny in Italy.

Como have only given one minute of gametime to any Italian player this season. A single, solitary minute. That was for tricenarian centre-back, Edoardo Goldaniga – one of only two Italians in their senior squad along with 35-year-old goalkeeper, Mauro Vigorito.

Minutes played by Italian players in #SerieA pic.twitter.com/UOYXAf27XX

— Wayne Girard (@WayneinRome) March 16, 2026

You then start to realise just why Como are ruffling some feathers in Italy. This is a country whose national team need to navigate the World Cup play-offs this month to avoid missing out on the tournament for the third straight time.

Player development is already under the microscope in Italy and now one of Serie A’s 20 clubs are navigating their way up the table with barely any natives of their own.

“Six or seven Spaniards have arrived, but I personally, together with the director, have tried to bring in as many Italians as possible,” Fabregas argued in the summer. “I swear to you: we analysed, we saw which players we could bring in to raise the level of the team, even young ones, but it was an incredible effort. The top Italian player plays for Inter, for Juve, and this level is more difficult for us.

“It’s difficult for the game we want to play. We can start talking about the youth sector, I don’t talk much about mentality because I don’t know the dynamics here at other clubs well, but we haven’t found the right space to bring Italians into our environment. We hope to find them for the future, we continue to look. If you look at the Primavera, we’re trying to push hard to bring in, invest in, and train 15-16-year-olds in our own way.

“I know the Spanish market much better, I feel confident because the Spanish talent right now, especially the players we’re signing, is strong. There’s so much potential there, but if I had to choose between an Italian and a Spaniard, I’d always go with the former, but we need to figure out how to find him or whether we need to train him for the future. If we have to go to a higher level to bring him towards our world, it’s difficult. I’m no one to say what the problem is, but when I say we’ve struggled to find Italian talent, it’s the truth.”

Neither Como nor any other Serie A club are under any obligation to develop Italian players for the national team, but you would be hard pressed to find a team less reliant on homegrown players anywhere in Europe.

Elsewhere, Como also got caught up in the controversy of Serie A’s plans to stage a fixture in Australia, which were later abandoned. Como were one of the teams set to take part in Perth, along with AC Milan (although it must be stressed that Fabregas opposed the idea).

“We understand that this journey may demand sacrifices in convenience, comfort, and routine,” they said in a club statement attempting to justify the proposition.

“Yet sometimes sacrifice is essential, not for individual benefit but for the greater good, for growth, and above all for the survival of the league itself.

“Most clubs in Italy are not profitable. It is about ensuring survival, and building a future where Serie A remains competitive, respected, and globally admired.”

Como ultimately claimed a draw when the fixture was played in its natural home of the San Siro, a point that has been followed by a four-game winning run in Serie A – only the third in their history – to solidify their status as contenders for Europe.

A drop-off in quality from the teams around them has not harmed their chances. Of the nine teams that finished above Como last season, more than half are on fewer points now than they were at the same stage last season: Napoli (who remain above Como) by two points, Atalanta, Bologna and Lazio (all by 11) and Fiorentina (20). Furthermore, the likes of Juventus and Roma are not showing enough signs of consistent progress.

The door has opened for Como to burst into the equation. They have taken advantage with an attractive but adaptable style of play, proof of Fabregas’ coaching potential after the intelligence he showed as a player.

With Italian clubs underperforming in Europe this season – Napoli fell in the league phase of the Champions League, before Juventus and Inter were both eliminated at the knockout phase play-off stage and Atalanta suffered a 6-1 first-leg defeat in the round of 16 against Bayern Munich – it could be over to Como to make a better attempt of their own next season.

But UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules could hit them hard. Serie A has no internal equivalent of the Premier League’s Profit & Sustainability Rules. Only once a club qualifies for Europe is their spending scrutinised by Europe’s governing body.

That said, the analysis is done over a multi-year period and Como’s general recruitment policy has been constructed with the long term in mind.

“At the moment, we are €75m below the UEFA cap,” said club president Mirwan Suwarso in an interview with La Gazzetta Dello Sport this month. “It should also be said that there is no case study like ours.

“It’s a club that in two years has gone from promotion to Serie A after more than 20 years to reaching Europe. However, revenues are growing significantly, which suggests that in two or three years we will be able to meet the FFP requirements. For teams entering Europe for the first time, or after a long time, such a margin is allowed.

“We are still in a start-up phase. Everything we did in Serie B is no longer enough in Serie A. Every time you change division, you have to start from scratch, and we’ve already done that three times.

“Football is different from other businesses, where you make an investment and then calculate the years in which you’ll get a return. We’ve invested heavily over three transfer windows, but in January, only one player arrived because we had already laid the foundations. The ownership is looking five or six years ahead. Emotions can influence decisions, and that’s not good from a sustainability standpoint.”

Como’s transfer kitty could be swelled by fresh money received from Real Madrid if they activate their buyback clauses for Paz and Ramon. The former is almost taken as a certainty and the latter is starting to look likely too. Particularly in the case of Paz, though, the clause is worth a below-market-value price.

Like with any project, players will come and go from Como. So too might Fabregas if other clubs show interest, although it would be slightly more complicated than usual. If they do achieve Champions League qualification, or even European football of the Thursday night variety, it would be a worthy achievement that could only enhance the profiles of those involved.

But this is a club who have had the biggest net spend in Serie A this season. In fact, their net spend over the past two transfer windows has been more than twice as large as the league’s second biggest.

Como are on course to achieve something historic. But a miracle? No chance.