"Barcelona existed without Cruyff, Milan without Sacchi, Inter without Herrera." That's Como president Mirwan Suwarso, speaking ahead of the club's Champions League debut — and the fact that he's already framing Cesc Fabregas in that company tells you exactly what kind of project this is.
Como host RB Leipzig at the Stadio Sinigaglia on Thursday, and while first-time Champions League appearances aren't exactly rare, this one is different. This isn't a club that overperformed for one season and fell into Europe sideways. Como are building something that's meant to last — and the architecture behind it is unlike anything else in Italian football.
The Disney Model Is Exactly What It Sounds Like
Como is a town of roughly 85,000 people with a 12,000-seat stadium. That's not a foundation for Champions League football — unless you rethink what a football club actually is.
Suwarso's answer is what he calls the Disney model. The lake is the theme park. Tourists come for the scenery, and Como's brand — fashion, hospitality, merchandising, lifestyle — is what they encounter when they get there. George Clooney has a home nearby. José Mourinho lived there during his Inter years. Keira Knightley, Hugh Grant, Adrien Brody and Andrew Garfield have all been spotted in the stands. That's not coincidence. That's positioning.
"We have a fashion division, retail division with a number of brands sitting in there," Suwarso explained to the BBC. "A majority of it is about the lifestyle of the lake." The key detail: the best time to visit Lake Como is summer, when there's no football. The brand works precisely because it doesn't depend on matchdays to exist.
The club is backed by Indonesia's Djarum Group, owned by the Hartono brothers, whose combined net worth stood at approximately $48 billion before Michael Hartono passed away earlier this year. They bought Como in 2019 through their London-based company, SENT Entertainment. In under five years, the club went from the lower divisions of Italian football to Serie A. One year after that, Champions League football. Suwarso, who runs the club on behalf of the ownership, gave up his seat for the UCL opener — along with several other directors — so fans born in 1950 or earlier could attend instead. Small gesture. Tells you a lot.
Fabregas Won't Be Here Forever — That's the Point
Cesc Fabregas joined Como as a player in 2022-23 for his final season, retired, managed the under-23s briefly, then took charge of the first team. In his caretaker stint, he earned promotion to Serie A. His first full season: 10th place with a newly promoted side. His second: fourth place and a Champions League spot. Inter came calling in the summer of 2025 after parting ways with Simone Inzaghi. Fabregas stayed.
Suwarso knows that won't always be the case. "The day will come when he leaves," he told La Repubblica, "and when that happens, he will have to help us identify his successor, because otherwise the methods and the players he has brought here would go to waste." That's not naivety about losing a manager — that's institutional thinking. The goal is for the system to outlast the individual who built it.
Thierry Henry also holds a minority stake in the club. This is not a vanity project for former Arsenal teammates.
The Nico Paz Situation Explains Everything
In 2024, Como signed Nico Paz from Real Madrid for €6 million — a deal that gave Madrid a 50% sell-on clause, the right to match any future offer, and the option to re-sign him across the next three summer windows for reasonable fees. Tottenham came in the summer of 2025 with roughly €70 million. Real Madrid and Como turned it down together. The following summer, Paz — by then one of the best players in Serie A — chose to stay at Como for his Champions League debut rather than return to the Bernabéu. Como bought him permanently for around €60 million. Madrid retain a buyback option for €80 million in 2027.
That negotiation — a newly promoted club and Real Madrid jointly refusing a €70m offer from Tottenham — is the clearest sign of where Como see themselves. They're not a selling club scrambling for fees. They're a club with a plan.
Moise Kean arrived from Fiorentina for around $45 million this summer to lead the attack in both competitions. The squad is built to compete at this level, not just to visit it.
Como -134 to beat RB Leipzig at home on Thursday. Given what Fabregas has built, and given that the Sinigaglia will be packed with supporters who've been following this club through every division since 1950, that's a line worth taking seriously.
