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Breaking
- 29 minutes ago
Why Como rejected €70m for Nico Paz – but will sell him back to Real Madrid for €10m
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 25 Aug 2025 15:04 BST
- 5 min read
Analysis
Nico Paz has made a spectacular start to the season for Como while the Argentina international is also making a splash in the transfer market.
The 20-year-old caught the eye at the weekend as Cesc Fabregas’ side overcame Lazio 2-0 in Serie A. He had a hand in both goals. In assisting the first, he made a glorious turn inside his own half before a delicious through pass set up Anastasios Douvikas to score. His second was a fine free kick.
Paz was able to push aside all the speculation linking him with a move to Tottenham Hotspur, who have had a €70 million bid rejected for him.
Current ETV
Nico Paz
AM, M (C)
Como
Nico Paz
AM, M (C)
Como
ETV Range
€39.8M - €48.7M
For Como, it was a straightforward decision, yet from the outside looking in, why did the little Serie A side who have never made a sale over €10m in their history knock back such a lucrative bid for a player with an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of nearly €45m?
The answer is simple: Nico Paz is Como’s only in name. In truth, he is still a Real Madrid player.
Nico Paz case highlights Madrid’s transfer mastery
Real Madrid’s stance on Nico Paz is a study in transfer market smarts.
Los Blancos elected to sell the former Tenerife youth to Como last summer for just €6m. In doing so, though, they installed three critical clauses in his contract that effectively allowed them to retain control of the player’s future, Fabrizio Romano reports.
These were:
- Buy-back clauses valid in 2025 and 2026
- A 50% sell-on fee
- Matching rights
The first two clauses are critical in this case. Although Real Madrid would have had the chance to equal Tottenham’s €70m offer if it was accepted, thanks to the third clause, Los Blancos could not have afforded to do so this summer.
Instead, they have pulled strings politically to have Como hold off and, in all likelihood, sell Paz back to the Bernabeu club in a year’s time for just €10m – the value of the buy-back clause next summer.
The 50% sell-on fee also has a role to play in this, of course. Como would really only have earned €35m from selling Paz to Spurs. That’s below his ETV.
Romano says that Real Madrid will give them ‘compensation’. Exactly what this entails is unclear, but a hefty lump sum would cover much of Como’s losses. They may also get preferential treatment when other players like Paz come to leave the Spanish capital.
While this would compensate the Italian side partially, Como will also have the added bonus of having the player for another season. The early evidence already suggests he will be a difference-maker for them as they aim to better last season’s 10th-placed finish and perhaps even challenge for Europe.
After finishing last season with six goals and nine assists in Serie A, his contribution was invaluable.
There’s more to this deal than just raw finances, in other words.
What next for Paz?
Unfortunately for Spurs, they never really stood a chance in signing Paz.
Real Madrid have an iron grip on a player who remains theirs in all but name. Next season, they will welcome him back into their star-studded ranks and he will likely become the star he appears destined to be.
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