Nico Paz has told Real Madrid he would rather keep starting every week at Como than battle Jude Bellingham and Arda Güler for minutes at the Bernabéu. The decision was final enough for Fabrizio Romano to close the file.
“Nico is finishing the season at Como. That is 100 per cent,” Romano said, according to Livescore.
The money moved in both directions. Como paid Real Madrid €60 million last summer to buy out the retained rights that had sat over the 22-year-old since his original €6 million move from the Bernabéu in 2024, Sports Illustrated reported. In return, Madrid wrote in an €80 million buyback valid for one specific window: the summer of 2027. If Madrid pass, Como take full control of the player’s future.
“100% a Como player”
Como sporting director Carlalberto Ludi has acknowledged the clause. He described Paz as “100% a Como player” and said a future sale “would enhance our work and would also be important for the club.”
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Paz’s own message to Real Madrid, as relayed by Romano, was blunter.
“Coach, I love Real Madrid, I respect you, but I prefer to stay at Como for at least one more season because I can play every game, develop and grow,” Paz told Madrid’s coaching staff, according to Livescore.
Form that is pricing itself out
The Argentine’s season has made the arithmetic harder for everyone except him. Sports Mole put his last five matches at five goals and five assists, including a goal and two assists in Como’s 9-1 Champions League thrashing of Lens.
Named Serie A’s best midfielder for 2025-26, Paz has turned Cesc Fàbregas’s Como into Champions League contenders at the same time as he has turned himself into a scarcity asset.
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Outside the clause, any Como sale would likely start closer to €100 million, per Sports Mole, with Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Barcelona, Manchester City and Manchester United all tracking the playmaker. Only Real Madrid have a locked-in price.
Only Madrid can trigger the clause
Real Madrid have already begun planning for 2027-28 around players who developed away from the Valdebebas academy, Madrid Universal reports, and Paz is the headline case. The €80 million option can be triggered only in summer 2027, and only by Madrid. Miss it, and Como can open an auction at whatever number the market will bear.
Paz will play out 2026-27 at Como. The buyback window opens next summer.
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