“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Como can pretend not to have heard.
6 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jesús Rodríguez did not need any: 7.90, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Francisco Vaz will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Como the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.00, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jesús Rodríguez did not need any: 9.57, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
At 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Como has been clear about where Ivan Smolčić stands, which is more than many ever get.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Como can pretend not to have heard.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Trevoh Chalobah and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pontus Almqvist 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.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Marked 8.22 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Como has been clear about where Maxence Caqueret stands, which is more than many ever get.
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Como lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alessio Baralla will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Como the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pontus Almqvist was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I watch every Como game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Lazio runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Trevoh Chalobah signs something — a contract at Como or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Como lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Como may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Jesús Rodríguez, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.79
A mark of 7.79 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Como they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alessandro Gabrielloni and Como agree another 2 years.
Pontus Almqvist and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The words a physio says slowly. 37 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 5‑2 against Cremonese, and it could have been more.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
A brace, and Álvaro Morata takes the afternoon — 8.97
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Álvaro Morata provided it, and the 8.97 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
7 goals in one match, Martin Baturina on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Como and Cremonese.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pontus Almqvist was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Junior Ajayi 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.
44 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Como lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Jesús Rodríguez, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.69
A mark of 7.69 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Trevoh Chalobah and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Genoa were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
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.
51 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Como lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Como can pretend not to have heard.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jesús Rodríguez did not need any: 7.65, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Como is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Francisco Vaz has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Ivan Smolčić and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The words a physio says slowly. 59 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 21 signed and 23 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 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Francisco Vaz will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Como the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ivan Smolčić 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pontus Almqvist 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.
69 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Como lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Como asked and Rayo Vallecano said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Trevoh Chalobah 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Como know it.
“I watch every Como game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Excelsior runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
77 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Como lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Frosinone for Mauro Vigorito 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.
Trevoh Chalobah and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
84 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Como lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Como can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alessio Baralla will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Como the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The name of Mauro Vigorito has come up in conversations Como were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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.
17 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“I watch every Como game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Inter runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Lorenzo de Paula and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Junior Ajayi
93 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Como lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Como asked and Torino said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pontus Almqvist was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Como, another week without a signature from Noel Törnqvist.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Noel Törnqvist trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
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.
Gastón Sauro damages knee ligaments — 101 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 101 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Como can pretend not to have heard.
Trevoh Chalobah 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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.03, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Como asked and Fiorentina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stefan Posch 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Como, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
108 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Como lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Trevoh Chalobah and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stefan Posch 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.
The name of Mauro Vigorito has come up in conversations Como were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“I watch every Como game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Lazio runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Como has been clear about where Mauro Vigorito stands, which is more than many ever get.
115 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Como lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Add another name to the list: Heracles have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Nazareno Bazán Vera. The answer from Como has not changed — yet.
The offer from Guidonia Montecelio for Mauro Vigorito 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.
Audace Cerignola pay $280.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Ivan Smolčić and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Juventus have kept their man, and Como go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
17 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Como, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
In brief
SquadWords at Como training over how hard people work
Gastón Sauro damages knee ligaments — 122 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 122 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The offer from Heerenveen for Emil Audero 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Estudiantes is saying, and nobody at Como is enjoying the guessing.
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.
“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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Fiorentina have kept their man, and Como go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
SquadWords at Como training over how hard people work
The dugoutIvan Smolčić has become a man the manager trusts
49Edition
The Como Post
5 Jul 2027
From our football correspondentSteady
Squad5 Jul 2027
Gastón Sauro damages knee ligaments — 129 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 129 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
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.
The deal that would have taken Martin Baturina to Napoli has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Como with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Como offered $1.6M; Arezzo said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
“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.
Trevoh Chalobah 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.
A season average of 7.03 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Como know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
136 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Como lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Como have gone to Arezzo 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.7M — a club that wants Luca Chierico enough to be asked twice.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
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 now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Fiorentina have kept their man, and Como go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
144 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Como lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Spezia had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The name of Joaquín Zappacosta has come up in conversations Como were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pontus Almqvist was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
9 goals in 16 games at Reggiana — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Como updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
In brief
Loan watchNoel Törnqvist’s loan is measured in nothing happening
151 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Como lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Mantova had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“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 Paris FC for Maxence Caqueret 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 number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $7.9M — a club that wants Emiliano Pattarello enough to be asked twice.
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.
158 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Como lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Inter waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Como is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Como have gone to Arezzo 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.
“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 easiest signature of my career.” Thomas Leggio and Como agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad31 May 2027
7 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ángel Román Bautista 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jacobo Ramón trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Como will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Nazareno Bazán Vera has written the date down.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Nicolas Kühn’s exile
Position 9 on 56 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Assane Diao did not need any: 7.79, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pontus Almqvist 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Elia Rossi after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout17 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Elia Rossi left the room before anybody could ask which.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ángel Román Bautista was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.04, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Elia Rossi could afford to be generous.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Martin Baturina provided it, and the 8.33 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Como know it.
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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Elia Rossi could afford to be generous.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pontus Almqvist was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
He has had enough of the noise. Whether Como can be a quieter place for him, or whether the only cure is a move somewhere the phone-ins are gentler, is a question for the next few months.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
Loan watchNoel Törnqvist’s loan is measured in nothing happening
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ángel Román Bautista was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
0‑3 to Juventus, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
27 goals in 30 games at Leganés — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Como updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
A season average of 7.03 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Como know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
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.
Marked 6.71 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
“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.
Trevoh Chalobah 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Roan Veenbrink is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pontus Almqvist 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.
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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Adem Sipić has just signed for Como, and for once the answer mattered.
Everybody at Como saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 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.
24 goals in 28 games at Leganés — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Como updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Assane Diao did not need any: 8.02, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
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.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Maxence Caqueret will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Como escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
1 for Maxence Caqueret, marked 7.69, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
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. Ángel Román Bautista 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.90 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Trevoh Chalobah 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Como know it.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Yan Couto was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.23. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Como will try not to make too much of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Como can pretend not to have heard.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.68 for the rest of it.
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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Como can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pontus Almqvist 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.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Empoli moved on, Mauro Vigorito reports back to Como, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Nazareno Bazán Vera and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pontus Almqvist was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Hellas Verona moved on, Jean Butez reports back to Como, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Trevoh Chalobah and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.00, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Assane Diao reports back to Como with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Trevoh Chalobah 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.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pontus Almqvist was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
20 appearances away from home and 20 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 10 signed and 6 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.
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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Francisco Vaz has, at Como, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Como can pretend not to have heard.
Como asked and Akhmat Grozny said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Leandro Ilari and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad25 Jan 2027
7 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.
RC Strasbourg paid $18.7M 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 fee is $4.0M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Parma drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Jesús Rodríguez, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.65
A mark of 7.65 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Trevoh Chalobah and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Como asked and Shakhtar said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Parma have accepted the money. What Como do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The offer from Avellino for Assane Diao 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Dolomiti Bellunesi waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Como is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The name of Lucas Da Cunha has come up in conversations Como were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Bucharest have kept their man, and Como go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The bid was some way short and Como did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Assane Diao, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.86
A mark of 7.86 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Joaquín Zappacosta has, at Como, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
20 goals in 19 games at Leganés — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Como updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Como can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Como have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
19 goals in 17 games at Leganés — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Como updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Moise Kean's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Up for the corner, and Samuele Ricci delivers — 7.62
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Samuele Ricci scored, was marked 7.62, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
7.35, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Torino go through and Como go home, 1‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.95 for the rest of it.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Thomas Leggio had Como level again within 4 minutes, and Torino never got to play with a lead at all.
“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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Marc Oliver Kempf is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
7 goals in 12 games at Reggiana — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Como updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
14 goals in 13 games at Leganés — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Como updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Elia Rossi left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
Juventus next, and one man in the Como dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Como would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
7.96, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Lecce next, and one man in the Como dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“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.
Junior Ajayi 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 system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jacobo Ramón trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
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.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 87th, and Salernitana spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Martin Baturina provided it, and the 8.33 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Adrian Lahdo, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 8.29
A mark of 8.29 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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.
“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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Como have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Assane Diao, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.65
A mark of 7.65 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“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.
Marked 8.12 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The young player of the month award goes to a 21-year-old at Como who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Minute 91, against Venezia, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Luis Milla has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Da Cunha, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Elia Rossi to a room that had heard them before.
The ambition story running backwards, and the one nobody tells: a footballer who wants a smaller ground, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is rarely reported as anything else.
Successful dribbles: 13. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Two goals and a mark of 9.06 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Como have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Mattia Liberali is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Como and Atalanta, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Thomas Boccia and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
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 22 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 saw it before anybody said it. At 39 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Como is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Cagliari will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Como were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A brace, and Moise Kean takes the afternoon — 9.12
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Moise Kean provided it, and the 9.12 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Assane Diao did not need any: 7.64, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Yan Couto was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.58. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The young player of the month award goes to a 20-year-old at Como who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Como can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Every touch weighed, every quote parsed, every mistake replayed. Some players grow into that; some are quietly finished by it; nobody knows which until afterwards.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jesús Rodríguez did not need any: 7.61, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Trevoh Chalobah 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Mattia Liberali is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
6 goals in one match, Moise Kean on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Como and Inter.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Robert Sánchez's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
A brace, and Moise Kean takes the afternoon — 9.22
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Moise Kean provided it, and the 9.22 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Elia Rossi could afford to be generous.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Inter.
7 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
“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.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Arezzo had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Avellino have kept their man, and Como go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 2 arrived, 5 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
“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.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Como than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
$3.3M on the table at Avellino. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The offer from Juve Stabia for Ivan Smolčić 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.
$490.0K was the most the club would pay and Carrarese were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Como asked and Estudiantes said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Moise Kean. 2‑0 against Monza, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.09, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Luis Milla's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Girona pay $65.8M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A brace, and Moise Kean takes the afternoon — 8.76
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Moise Kean provided it, and the 8.76 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Assane Diao did not need any: 8.00, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
He is going to Girona, the club has $65.8M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
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 Matteo Dagasso enough to be asked twice.
Trevoh Chalobah 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.
Como offered $540.0K; Venezia said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Fiorentina paid $15.0M 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 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $5.5M — a club that wants Filip Stojilković enough to be asked twice.
Como have gone to Venezia 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.
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.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Mantova had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The name of Tasos Douvikas has come up in conversations Como were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“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 $790.0K — a club that wants Abdoulaye Ndiaye enough to be asked twice.
$540.0K 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.
The offer from Nürnberg for Marc Oliver Kempf 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.
“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.
The name of Edoardo Goldaniga has come up in conversations Como were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.