Cesc Fabregas has a special deal with Como in case he leaves the club after the tough loss to Lens.
As head coach, Cesc Fabregas has quickly won many fans across European football in the past 18 months. His reputation just keeps growing, especially after Como’s incredible 9-1 win over French side Lens in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Como scored nine goals from 12 shots on target at Stade Bollaert-Delelis, making it one of the club’s most unforgettable nights. Striker Anastasios Douvikas scored a hat-trick, and young Italian midfielder Mattia Liberali wowed everyone by scoring once and assisting twice in just 31 minutes on the field.
Only PSG, with 20 goals, have scored more than Como’s 19 in the Champions League this season. Fabregas’ team is currently fourth in the league after winning three games and losing one in their first four matches. People are already talking about what Fabregas might do next, and other clubs could find it easier to sign him than they usually would.
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Although Fabregas isn’t planning to leave Como anytime soon—he has a contract until June 2028—there will be plenty of guessing about when he might move on.
In September, reports said Fabregas had a special clause in his contract letting him join Barcelona, Arsenal, or Chelsea, three of his former clubs, for a fixed fee. But in early October, Mirwan Suwarso, speaking on Piers Morgan’s Football Uncensored, seemed to say no fee is needed. He said Fabregas could leave for free if he wanted to chase a new chance.
“He doesn’t need a clause to go anywhere he wants,” Suwarso said. “In this business, he’s more of a friend than anything. He can go wherever he wants, whenever he wants. If tomorrow he calls and says, ‘I want to go to Leverkusen,’ I’d say, ‘Go for it.’ I don’t even need any compensation. We get each other. He helped build our club and laid the football foundation. He’s like our Johan Cruyff, like Johan was to Barcelona. He built the basics for us. If he wants to move on… maybe he’ll stay, maybe not. I love having him—he’s like family. But you can’t hold onto someone who doesn’t want to be here.”
Fabregas has a unique role in European football because he’s also a part-owner of Como, becoming a shareholder in 2022 when the club was in Serie B.
After matching the biggest winning margin record since the Champions League started in 1992, Fabregas said he hopes his Como team can challenge PSG and Barcelona in their last two group games in January. He also admitted he was “angry” about conceding their only goal in the second half when they were already leading 7-0.
“When I saw the last two games were PSG and Barcelona, I knew we had to get as many points as possible early on,” Fabregas told reporters. “Nothing is impossible, but those two teams are on a higher level than the rest. There’s still a long way to go. The last two games are in late January, so for now, I’m focused on getting injured players back because we’re missing a lot up front.
“There’s one more big game coming on Sunday—an away match at Inter Milan—then we’ll try to rest as much as possible during the international break.”