It has been nearly three months since the start of the new season, and the situation of the first group in Serie A has gradually become clearer. Naples continues to challenge the top three in the north, Roma and Atalanta are still playing the role of spoilers. Two intruders have appeared around these traditional strong teams. Bologna, which operates on a small budget, has achieved a breakthrough last season, and Como is moving forward with bigger dreams.
[Big spend, good results]
In the league, they defeated Lazio, Fiorentina and Juventus, and drew with Atlanta away from home. After 7 rounds, they scored 12 points, ranking 6th in the Serie A standings. After eliminating Sassuolo in the Italian Cup, Como advanced to the top 16. Como had an amazing start to the season. The team's record is outstanding, and Como is also remarkable in building stars. Nico Paz has been awarded the best U23 player in Serie A for two consecutive months. Fabregas has turned this talented midfielder into a top star in Serie A.
Last season, Como returned to the top league after many years. They invested 97.7 million euros in signings. Not only did they complete the relegation task early, but their final ranking also stayed in the top half of the Serie A standings (10th). After a small trial, they received unexpected benefits. Como continued to increase their signings in the 2025 summer window. They spent 107.65 million euros to introduce 16 players, and their net expenditure (94 million euros) ranked first among the Serie A powers.
22.5 million euros to buy Real Betis' Spanish striker Jesus Rodriguez, 19 million euros to buy Celtic's German forward Nicolas Kuhn, 18 million euros to sign Croatian midfielder Martin Baturina from Dinamo Zagreb, 14 million euros to buy Alkmaar's Dutch attacker Adai, and 13 million euros to officially buy Argentina from Manchester City. Midfielder Perrone, 6 million euros to introduce Spanish defender Alex Valle from Barcelona, 5 million euros to sign Belgian defender Vandebreput from Red Bull Salzburg...
There are star players from big clubs, strong players from mid-level teams, and potential stocks from small teams. Como's signing is the result of a joint "selection" by chairman Suvarosso and coach Cesc Fabregas.
Almost all of these large-scale operations were completed within half a month. The management not only gave Fabregas a huge lineup of 45 people (3 goalkeepers, 13 defenders, 14 midfielders and 15 forwards), but also gave him ample pre-season preparation time. Just as the Premier League's top powers were frantically engaging in an arms race, Como also ignited a beacon in the Apennines.
Before the first round of Serie A, Fabregas reduced Como's rotation to 30 people, which is still too luxurious for a team without a European war mission. Como not only wants to strive for good results in Serie A, but also hopes to replicate the magic of Bologna in the Italian Cup. The victory against Sassuolo reflected their attitude.
["Trinity" leads Serie A, small teams also have big dreams]
Como's ability to continue to stir up the transfer market as a newly promoted team is inseparable from the support of strong financial resources. In 2019, brothers Huang Huicong and Huang Huixiang, Indonesian wealthy businessmen and owners of Zhenji Group, worth US$45 billion, acquired Como. This small team, which had gone bankrupt three times in 10 years, turned around.
As a small transparent player in the Lombardy region, Como is shrouded in the shadow of the Milan duo and Atalanta. It has been wandering in the low-level leagues all year round, and occasionally it can only play the role of lift when it reaches the top stage. In the new era of Serie A, foreign capital already accounts for half of the country, but they (especially American capital) have not made much noise because they are subject to more restrictions. The Indonesian consortium did not rush to seek breakthroughs in performance, but launched a trinity operation route of "capital + cultural tourism + internationalization" to package Como with the concept of "football tourism".
The strength of the Indonesian consortium behind Como is at the only level in Serie A.
The population of Como Club is only 85,000, and the capacity of the Senigallia Stadium used by the team is only 13,000. Traditional football operating income (match day income and TV broadcast fees) can only meet the budget of Serie B teams. If they want to gain a foothold in Serie A, they must generate income from other aspects. The Huang brothers value Como's tourism resources. The Senigallia Stadium is adjacent to the beautiful Lake Como. This is a cornucopia of people and money-absorbing capacity comparable to that of Venice.
Como teamed up with Los Angeles luxury streetwear brand Rhude to launch a limited edition jersey.
Klopp once jokingly called Manchester United the "football Disney" before landing in the Premier League. The Huang brothers want to create a real green Disney myth, that is, build a theme park with the lakeside stadium as the core, and create a full industry chain system with dual axes of football and tourism. From cooperating with famous sports brands to launch club-themed apparel, to holding high-standard football training camps and seminars, from inviting Ajax, Celtic, Jeddah National and other teams to participate in the "Lakeside Football Festival" (Como Cup), to preparing tourism promotion plans in conjunction with the promotion of the Winter Olympics, the brand awareness of Como Football Club is rising at an alarming rate.
Lakeside Football Festival, Ajax, Celtic and Jeddah Nacional support Como.
In response to the problem of the hollowing out of tourist cities, Como’s commercial activities focus on the entire city and lake area, which can not only enhance local people’s identification with the club, but also attract tourists from all over the world to participate. The recent Serie A overseas match incident has attracted great attention from public opinion, and Como once again seized the opportunity to expand his influence. The short-term goal of the Indonesian consortium is to make Como self-financing, and the long-term plan is to build a top European club that can attract cross-border traffic and completely change the ecological environment of Serie A..
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The operation idea of capital combined with cultural tourism is very advanced, but if Como wants to gain a foothold in Serie A and further enhance the brand value through the European war in the future, it must be guaranteed by excellent results. In order to take the initiative in the transfer market, Como has adopted an international approach to team building. Chairman Mirwan Suvarosso has experience in managing football clubs in Indonesia and has worked in London and other places for a long time. He can use his connections to introduce players from the English league. Cesc Fabregas and Varane can use their personal prestige to attract Spanish players to the shores of Lake Como to pan for gold.
After joining, Varane retired due to injury. Varane became a shareholder of Como Club and helped Cesc Fabregas recruit talents.
Thanks to the brilliant achievements in the national team and club arena, Spanish coaches and players are now very popular in Europe, and Como can be regarded as following the trend. Midfielders have a higher success rate in coaching after retiring. Spanish football in its peak era was rich in flexible midfielders. When he was a player, Fabregas was an "assistant coach" on the field. Playing and coaching is a matter of course. There was a Spanish team that wanted to invite Fabregas as an assistant coach, and Como gave him the opportunity to get there in one step.
Based on the experience accumulated while following many famous coaches in the past, Fabregas brought Como a style that advocates oppression and technology. He can also be self-centered when facing strong enemies. This aggressive style of play complements the courage shown by the Huang brothers in the business field. Last season, Fabregas' coaching talent was reflected in a series of strong dialogues. At the beginning of this season, Como scored 7 points from Lazio, Atalanta and Juventus, and has already shown his strength to join the first group in Serie A.
In addition to coaching Nico Paz, Fabregas also made Assani Diaw's value soar.
A few months ago, just when Inzaghi was leaving office, Inter Milan considered Fabregas, but this rumor quickly disappeared. The beautiful Lake Como not only has a relaxed coaching environment, but also has ample team building funds and a broad development platform. Fabregas will not leave Como for the time being. He will complete the transformation from young coach to famous coach here and plan the future of the team as a shareholder.
[The Lakeside Stadium needs to be upgraded, Como's future is unlimited]
The young coach leads the energetic team to continue to achieve great results, and the exciting business plan is being advanced in an orderly manner. Como seems to be on the right path. However, there is still a big mountain standing in front of the Indonesian consortium, and that is the construction issue of the new stadium.
The Senigallia Stadium is in a good location, but the facilities are relatively old and have limited capacity. The surrounding traffic is congested, making it difficult to carry the club's ambitions. The Indonesian consortium hopes to build a large-capacity modern stadium to host large-scale football tourism projects. In the past, this was difficult to achieve in Italian football, but with the implementation of Milan's new stadium plan, the Indonesian consortium saw hope.
"We will not make grand promises, let alone have unrealistic ambitions. We will represent Como with a high-spirited attitude, bring glory to this city, and gradually create an identity that can occupy a place in Italian football." - Milvain Suvarosso, President of Como Club
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