Serie A club looking to secure 100% rights of former Real Madrid academy protege | OneFootball

Nico Paz was widely touted as the next big talent to break into the Real Madrid first team when he was called up from the Castilla side in 2023-24.

His initial performances with the senior side, in fact, only strengthened that school of thought.

A series of high-profile signings in midfield, however, saw him move down the pecking order and the Argentine star did what was best for his career – he moved out on loan to prioritise playing time.

The clarity in thought, needless to say, worked out for the best as he signed for Como until 2028 and made 35 appearances in the Serie A last season with a staggering six goals and eight assists in the process.

Como looking for it all

While Paz developed in Italy away from the noise in the Spanish capital, Real Madrid retained buyback clauses on him and 50% of his rights as part of the deal.

Como want to retain 100% rights of Nico Paz. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

In fact, they strongly considered using such leverage to bring him back home this summer until they eventually decided against it.

As relayed by Gianluca Di Marzio, Como are not happy with the current structure of the deal and are working with Real Madrid to earn complete rights over the player.

They see him as an important part of their project, as was clear last season, and do not wish to split ownership of the player 50-50 anymore. The effort, thus, is to push for 100 per cent ownership of the player.

Further, the Serie A side also hope to remove all the buyback clauses Real Madrid hold on the player set at €9 million for 2025, €10 million for 2026, and €11 million for 2027.

The operation will not be simple and will undoubtedly involve Real Madrid commanding a fee they see fit for the player’s complete rights. The negotiations could well span into the coming weeks.