One of the big football stories in Italy has been the rise of Como as they returned to Serie A after a 21-year absence, finishing in a very creditable 10th place in their first season back in 2024/25. To date, this season has been even more promising, as they are currently in 6th place, very much involved in the race for European qualification.
The team has often dazzled under its young coach Cesc Fabregas, who was appointed head coach in July 2024. The former Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder had previously been part of a coaching partnership with Welshman Osian Roberts, while he completed the required UEFA badges, which worked well, as the dynamic duo led Como to promotion from Serie B.
Wealthy Owners
Clearly, much of Como’s success has been built on the substantial financial support from their owners, the Hartono brothers, who bought the club in 2019.
The Indonesian businessmen are by some distance the wealthiest owners in Italian football, worth around $50 bln according to some estimates, thanks to their investments in sectors such as cigarettes, e-commerce, electronics and real estate.
Management of the club has been entrusted to their countryman, Mirwan Suwarso, who has been appointed president, while Como also benefit from the expertise of a number of minority shareholders, including Fabregas and French legend Thierry Henry.
Transfers Sumer 2025
As an example of Como’s new financial might, they splashed out more than €100m last summer to strengthen their squad, including the signings of Jesus Rodriguez from Real Betis, Nicolas Khun from Celtic, Martin Baturina from Dinamo Zagreb and Jayen Addai from AZ Alkmaar, while Maximo Perrone’s loan from Manchester City was made permanent. In addition, they took Alvaro Morata from Milan on loan.
According to Transfermarkt, this was the fifth highest gross spend in Serie A, only surpassed by Milan €157m, Juventus €137m, Atalanta €126m and Napoli €115m.
In another sign of their ambition, Como actually had the highest net spend in Italy last summer, as their €94m was comfortably ahead of Juventus €53m and Inter €42m.
League Position
Just seven years ago Como were playing in Serie D, the fourth tier of Italian football, so their ascent through the pyramid has been striking. Following promotion in 2018/19, they spent two seasons in Serie C, which incidentally includes 60 teams (three groups of 20), before going up in 2020/21.
It took them a while to get going in Serie B, but promotion to the top flight three years later was still a notable achievement, backed by significant owner investment, allied with good use of data analytics to help recruitment,
Administration
Before the arrival of the Indonesians, Como had suffered many financial issues, even entering administration on a couple of occasions, first in 2004 after two consecutive relegations, then in the 2016/17 season when the club was put up for auction, eventually being bought by the wife of Ghanaian footballer Michael Essien, before getting into more difficulties.
As a result, Calcio Como SpA and Calcio Como Srl have both been liquidated, so the club now operates as Como 1907 Srl, referencing the year it was founded.
New Strategy
Things look very different today, as the new owners have embraced an exciting vision encompassing Lake Como and its attraction to millions of tourists and various celebrities.
Mirwan Suwarso explained the strategy, “It’s really important for us to find a way to transform football into a real business. Football is the catalyst, the gateway, but ultimately we need to create an ecosystem that can support football activity. So, we need to make everything sustainable. A football club in a city of 85,000 people has enormous difficulty becoming sustainable with football alone, but we’re very fortunate to be located in a place where the city itself is a brand: Lake Como is a global brand.”
