‘Unchained’ Como splash cash and follow Disney model as Cesc Fabregas' side bid to become big winners from turbulent summer in Serie A
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Published 17/07/2025 at 14:51 GMT+1
Midway through July, mid-table Serie A side Como are surprisingly among the top-spending clubs in all of Europe. Cesc Fabregas turned down the Inter job this summer to stay with a club that is showing huge ambition in the transfer market and off the pitch, backed by some of the sport's wealthiest owners. So what is going on at the Lombardy lakeside and can they really challenge for Europe?
Diao bullets header past Di Gregorio to draw Como level with Juventus
Video credit: TNT Sports
Do not let the tranquillity of the waves lapping at the shore of Lake Como fool you. This place is on a war footing.
A turbulent summer of change at the top of Serie A has left an opening. Almost all of the perennial European hopefuls have launched new eras by transforming their squads and swapping coaches – Inter, Milan, Roma, Lazio, Fiorentina and Atalanta are all under new management.
History tells us that when a crack appears in the door at the top end of Serie A, well-prepared smaller teams can wrench it open. First came Atalanta's astonishing rise from relegation battlers to top-four regulars and UEFA Europa League champions. Then, Bologna transformed themselves from mid-table underachievers into Coppa Italia winners and UEFA Champions League qualifiers.
Could Como be next? That is the question on the lips of many a Calcio fan after a highly impressive top-half finish in their first year back in the top flight after 21 years.
Within 11 days of the transfer market opening, Cesc Fabregas’ side had signed eight players and spent almost €90 million. According to Transfermarkt, by July 16, only seven clubs had spent more than the Italians: Chelsea, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Tottenham, Manchester City, Sunderland and Bayer Leverkusen.
One headline was ubiquitous: ‘Como scatenato’. Como unchained. But this is not a wild, scattergun spending splurge. The club has carefully and deliberately worked its way up the Italian football pyramid and now they are stocking up on ammunition for a proper assault on the most illustrious names in the game.
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Transfermarkt Como
Image credit: Twitter
Can Como target Europe?
‘The brakes are off’, said another headline after Nicholas Kuhn completed his transfer from Celtic to Como last week. Indeed. Someone has cut the wires.
The tricky German winger’s €19m arrival (all figures from Transfermarkt) from the Scottish champions was Como’s fourth major signing in under two weeks, to go with three loan moves that were made permanent.
It has not been a case of quantity over quality, either. Como have exclusively targeted young, talented players to bolster what is already a squad packed with some of the most exciting youngsters on the peninsula.
Two 19-year-old wingers have come in. Jesus Rodriguez was the most expensive capture from Real Betis for €22.5m, while Jayden Addai arrived from AZ for €14m.
Martin Baturina arrives with a big reputation from Croatia, the 22-year-old midfielder having established himself as one of his country’s top-rated young talents at Dinamo Zagreb and with the national team before his €25m move.
Then there are those who are already familiar. Fellipe Jack (19), Ignace Van der Brempt (23) and Alex Valle’s (21) loan moves have been made permanent for a combined €13m.
Confirmation of Maximo Perrone (22) following suit by completing a permanent move from Manchester City after a successful loan is expected soon, after reports that a €13m option will be triggered. His arrival will push Como’s spending over the €100m mark.
It seems unlikely that they will be done there, either. The rumour mill has churned out plenty of names that not long ago would have been laughable links to a club of Como's stature: Alvaro Morata, Douglas Luiz, Malick Thiaw and Andreas Schjelderup. It is a sign of how things have changed.
"I see them qualifying for the Europa League," said former Como goalkeeper Simone Braglia.
"Fabregas turned down a big team like Inter to stay at Como. I’m very optimistic."
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He is unlikely to be the only one. The Spaniard’s debut season coaching in a top European league was highly impressive as he stuck to his guns with an adaptable and entertaining brand of football that ultimately led them to 10th place.
That was the fifth-best finish of all time from a newly-promoted side, and the dazzling displays of breakthrough teenage talents Nico Paz and Assane Diao quickly outshone the headline-grabbing captures of ageing high-profile players like Raphael Varane (who quickly retired following injury), Pepe Reina, Sergi Roberto, Alberto Moreno and later Dele Alli.
Como's 'Disney model'
In that context, with the sense of an upward trajectory and real momentum, it explains why Fabregas felt comfortable turning down a lucrative move to a huge club like Inter when he was approached in the wake of Simone Inzaghi's exit.
Como's ambition has serious resources behind it, too. The club is owned by Indonesian billionaire brothers R. Budi Hartono and Michael Hartono, whose combined net worth (via Forbes) of more than $50 billion makes them the wealthiest owners in Italian football and among the richest in the sport.
When they purchased Como, through SENT Entertainment, in April 2019, the club was in Serie D. It took five years to get to Serie A, but when they got there, they were ready for it - on and off the field.
The club's owners have been eager to harness the in-built bonus of their glamorous, world-renowned lakeside location and the kind of people it attracts.
Over the course of their debut season, celebrities seemed to take a seat in the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia stands almost every week, from Keira Knightley to Hugh Grant, Andrew Garfield to Tyson Fury.
While embracing an international outlook - the club's President Mirwan Suwarso told Calcio e Finanza in February that 20% of the club's e-commerce sales came from overseas last year - the club is also working on modernising and renovating its lakeside stadium, an infamously tricky bureaucratic task in Italy.
During that interview, Suwarso explained a somewhat surprising comparison when it comes to how the club is run.
"I like to think of our business model in a way similar to Disney," he said.
"The parallel is between Disney and Como. For Disney, Disneyland represents its theme park division; for us, the football club and the matchday experience are our 'theme park division.'
"Then, we have eight other divisions connected to this. There’s what they call 'consumer products,' which includes merchandising, licensing, and everything that comes with it. We have a separate division exclusively dedicated to clothing, footwear, and similar products.
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"Then, we have a media division, which operates as a separate company. Tourism is another key area for us, working similarly to Disney’s travel and tourism sector."
True to his word, SENT Tourism was launched this summer, a luxury tour operator. Concerts and a pre-season tournament are being held at the stadium this summer, while partnerships have been announced with Revolut, Roc Nation and NoWatch.
This is not a frivolous vanity project. Como is being built to last with, in Suwarso's words, "an ecosystem that can sustain the football operation", and the speed of their success may well worry the teams above them.
Traditional powerhouses face uncertain year ahead
On the pitch, Fabregas will be optimistic about his chances of improving on last season's run to 10th.
Napoli, Juventus and Bologna are the only other top-half teams to go into the new season with the same coach, and Como will hope to thrive in the atmosphere of unpredictability that surrounds the new season.
Gian Piero Gasperini's move to Roma marks a big change in style following Claudio Ranieri's retirement and an entirely new challenge for the 67-year-old, while his successor in Bergamo, Ivan Juric, has no shortage of doubters as the chosen heir at Atalanta after disappointing spells with Roma and Southampton.
Lazio have been hit with a transfer ban, leaving returning coach Maurizio Sarri facing a summer without being able to add to a squad that finished seventh last term, and Fiorentina have pressed the reset button again, bringing back Stefano Pioli after Raffaele Palladino departed.
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'Disappointed' but 'proud' Inzaghi pays credit to Inter players
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Even the big fish in Milan look vulnerable. Massimiliano Allegri has a huge job on his hands trying to pick AC Milan off the floor after a shocking eighth-place finish left them outside of Europe for the first time in nine years.
Inter, rebuffed by their first-choice option Fabregas, chose rookie coach Cristian Chivu as the man to oversee what looks like a transition year as the club looks to rejuvenate an ageing squad whose spectacular run to the Champions League final ended in acrimony against Paris Saint-Germain.
The rejection was a bold call from Fabregas, who is also a shareholder at Como.
But with the Lariani's momentum travelling at the speed of a speedboat zipping over the famous sparkling lake, it could prove to be a smart one.
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