Serie A star Nico Paez becomes famous

Before the start of the 2025/26 season, Serie A added a new award: in addition to the "Best Player of the Month", a special "Best Rising Star of the Month" award was set up to commend young players with outstanding performances.

There is currently no suspense about the winner of this award - Nico Pas has won all two awards that have been awarded. Proficient in dribbling, scoring, and assisting, he is making steady progress towards becoming the next supernova in football.

Even the award in September can be called "no suspense": the Argentine player contributed 2 goals and 2 assists in just 3 games, but did not enter the main list of "Player of the Month" candidates. Such a result is obviously unfair to him.

But even so, the honor of "Best Rising Star of the Month" still belongs to him again. The question now is: who else can surpass the Como midfielder this season? You know, he was elected "Best New Star of the Serie A Season" last season.

A former Champions League champion, the "Treasure Boy" from Real Madrid's youth training

This player born in the Canary Islands has shown extraordinary talent as early as in the Real Madrid system.

While training with Arbeloa in the U19 echelon and with Raul in the Castilla echelon, Nico's performance did not escape the eyes of the first team coaching staff.

In the spring of 2023, Ancelotti began to recruit him to participate in first-team training. Tony Cross once praised this young player: "This kid should train with us every day, he is so good."

However, Nico's first-team debut did not wait until the fall of that year: in the Champions League match against Braga on November 8, 2023, he came on as a substitute for 13 minutes and completed 4 successful dribbles.

In the following seven games, he received stable playing time, and scored his first Champions League goal against Naples. The prelude to this winning goal was his signature move past Cayuste, which later became his "personal label."

In the 2023/24 season, Nico won the Champions League with Real Madrid. Taking a photo with the "Big Ears Cup", he undoubtedly reached the pinnacle of club honors earlier than many older teammates.

But after the glory, he also faced reality: there is no place for him in the Real Madrid first team for the time being, and staying in Castilla cannot meet his growth needs.

Last summer, many clubs extended an olive branch to Nico: La Liga's Girona and Alaves all made inquiries. In the end, Serie A's newly promoted Como stood out - because Cesc Fabregas is here, and the legendary midfielder has already regarded Nico as the core of his coaching plan.

"For a player of my age, it is very important to join a team where the coach trusts you and you are indispensable to the coach (not just an asset to the club)." Nico once said about the reasons for choosing Como, "I learned a lot from Cesc Fabregas, who was once the best player in the world. One, Cesc helped me continue to grow and fully grasp this critical stage."

Fabregas's "tailored training": Don't be a "robot", just be a "unique him"

In Como, a city near the lake, Nico found the most suitable growth soil for himself: minimal pressure and maximum trust.

Fabregas not only speaks the same Spanish as him, but also knows how to activate such a genius based on his own experience as a player.

As one of the top "No. 10 players" at least in his own era, Fabregas obviously saw some kind of "heritage" in Nico, so he spared no effort to make him feel comfortable on the court.

"He is a special player and needs space to play freely. We should not turn him into a 'robot'." This is Fabregas's coaching philosophy for Nico.

In fact, it is difficult to define Nico with a certain senior: some say his grace in handling the ball is like Zidane, some compare him to Odegaard because of his left foot and Real Madrid resume, and the Italian media associates him with Kaka because of his tall and thin "frontcourt playmaker" figure.

But Nico is not a copy of anyone - he does not have the speed of Kaká, the dominance of Zidane, and the sharpness of the pass is not as sharp as Odegaard.

Nico himself admitted that he has always been learning from Messi: "I will spend hours watching Leo's games on YouTube, trying to learn as much as possible from him. Before every game, I will watch his highlight moments and think about whether I can learn from him. Skills."

This kind of admiration is not without traces: his body rotation before breaking through has a bit of Messi's shadow - whether it is the first goal against Naples in the 2023 Champions League or his wonderful performance against Lazio this season, you can see such details.

Of course, there is also his "magic left foot": although it has not yet reached Messi's level, it is already his core weapon - like Messi, Nico rarely uses his right foot.

The data doesn't lie: he is Serie A's "dragger king" and "opportunity maker"

The seemingly "one-leg dependence" characteristic does not limit Nico's performance at all.

Last season, he completed 69 successful dribbles, easily ranking first among all players in Serie A; closely followed by wingers: Leo (59 times), Yildiz (59 times), and Gaetano Oristano (55 times).

You must know that Nico completed such a high-level dribbling in the central area, which is enough to reflect his technical strength.

As early as in the Real Madrid youth training camp, he was defined as a "classic player"-when others chose to hide the ball, he would always take the initiative to ask for the ball. Coach Diego Nogales once commented: "He is neither fast nor strong, but he knows his own characteristics, so he can maximize his technical advantages. He can send short and mid-range passes that others cannot see."

Although Nico has grown up now, this characteristic has never changed. His precise control of the trajectory and strength of the pass often leaves Serie A defenders unable to deal with it..

The data proves it: Since landing in Serie A, Nico's number of assists (11) leads the league, ahead of second-placed Pulisic and Lukaku (both 10).

You must know that Como is an almost brand-new team, and the tacit understanding between the players is limited. Such assists are more due to Nico's persistence rather than a simple "chemical reaction."

Last season, he also ranked first in Serie A with 144 "created chances", 9 more than second-placed Lookman.

The offensive contribution doesn't stop there: Nico also loves shooting. His number of shots last season (110) was second only to Lecce striker Nikola Krstovich (137) in the league, and he was tied for first with Krstovich in the number of shots outside the penalty area (56).

"My role depends on the team and my teammates, but usually I am comfortable in the position behind the forward - dropping back to receive the ball and then using my body to create threats in the penalty area." Nico described his position on the field.

This season has reached a new level: the data has been fully upgraded, and he is still a "dominant star" in Serie A.

If you only look at last season, it may not be enough to reflect Nico's progress - although Serie A has only started this season, his improvement is already visible to the naked eye.

This summer Como once again made major adjustments to his lineup, investing nearly 100 million euros in transfers. Nico has many new teammates around him, but this did not affect his performance at all.

Last season he was the team's "double number one" (6 goals and 8 assists), and his momentum this season is still unabated: Among the 7 goals Como has scored so far, except for 1 goal from the opponent's error cross, the other 6 goals are directly related to Nico (3 goals and 3 assists).

Advanced data can better reflect his growth:

- The average shots per game increased from 3.1 last year to 3.3;

- The shot on target rate increased from 1.1 to 1.5;

- The goal conversion rate tripled to 15% ——He even scored a direct free kick. You must know that he failed to score in 12 free kicks last season.

The offensive connection ability has also been greatly improved: the average key passes per game has skyrocketed from 1.5 to 3.5 times; although the data may fluctuate, the absolute numbers are more convincing - he has created 7 "excellent opportunities" in 6 games this season, while only 11 were created in 35 games last year.

What’s even more rare is that while he is more aggressive on the offensive end, he does not sacrifice the stability of ball control. Instead, he handles the ball more rationally: the ball possession rate in the opponent’s half only drops slightly (where more risks need to be taken), and the ball possession rate in his own half even increases slightly.

Among players in the same position in Serie A, Nico currently ranks first in many statistics such as goals, assists (and expected assists), number of shots on target, number of opportunities created, and number of successful confrontations. Even if the scope is expanded to players of the same age group in the five major European leagues, only Guler and Bilal Elhanus perform better than him in "passing in the last third area".

The future is in the hands of Real Madrid: a "treasure" that can be repurchased for 10 million euros

Last summer, Nico has attracted the attention of many giants: Bayer Leverkusen and Inter Milan have made offers of 25 million to 30 million euros, and Tottenham Hotspur shocked the football world with a sky-high price of 70 million euros.

But Como is unmoved - the owner of this club comes from Asia's top wealthy family (the Hartono family's assets exceed 40 billion euros). Club chairman Mirwan Suvarso said bluntly: "We currently have no plans to sell any players. We are not short of money and have sufficient support behind us."

However, the real suspense is not the pursuit of other clubs, but Real Madrid's attitude. When Real Madrid sold Nico to Como for about 6 million euros, they added a "buy-back clause" as usual:

- The buy-back price last summer was 9 million euros;

- It was 10 million euros in the summer of 2026;

- It was 11 million euros in the summer of 2027 - no matter from which point of view, this is a "cabbage price".

In addition, Real Madrid also retains 50% of Nico's economic rights: This means that if Como sells Nico in the future, he will need to pay half of the transfer fee to Real Madrid; and when Como receives any offer, he must inform Real Madrid, which has the "priority to match."

In short, Nico's future is almost entirely in the hands of Florentino Perez. According to insider information, Real Madrid plans to exercise its buy-back option after the end of this season.

However, problems also arise: Real Madrid already has midfielders such as Guler, Mastutono, and Bellingham. How to arrange positions for Nico will be a problem that Alonso's team needs to solve.

In this regard, Nico himself seemed very calm: "There will always be a lot of discussion from the outside world, but now I am only focused on Como, which is my home court. I don't know what the future will be like, or even what I will do tomorrow."