“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Como has been clear about where Máximo Perrone stands, which is more than many ever get.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Como this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jayden Addai is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Martin Baturina has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Como know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
At 21 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Como heard it as anything else.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Como has been clear about where Lucas Da Cunha stands, which is more than many ever get.
Marked 8.02. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Como.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Jacobo Ramón is the division's best young player this month
At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Como will try very hard not to make too much of it.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Luis Milla scored, was marked 7.75, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Jesús Rodríguez has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jayden Addai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Oct 2026
10 new faces, and Como are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Gianmarco Ricci could afford to be generous.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Como this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Everybody at Como saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 37 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Como, and it is not being withdrawn.
Como asked and Middlesbrough said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 86. Juventus had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
In brief
SquadWords at Como training over how hard people work
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Como, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Real Madrid for Jacobo Ramón was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The phone has started ringing about Luis Milla again, and this time the name on the line is Zenit. Como are listening politely and promising nothing.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 7 signed and 7 gone
That is the business done at Como until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Como asked and Udinese said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Jayden Addai falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Jesús Rodríguez is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Eintracht Frankfurt paid $45.4M and Como took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Como and Lazio have settled on $7.8M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Fiorentina paid $17.9M and Como took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $560.0K — a club that wants Elseid Hysaj enough to be asked twice.
Kaiki was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Como have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Como have gone to Pisa with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Como hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.2M — a club that wants Keita Baldé enough to be asked twice.
$480.0K on the table at Lazio. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.