The president of Como in an interview with La Stampa: “Hernandez and Thiaw have turned us down, our model is sustainable football. Hollywood stars? They come on vacation to the lake and ask for tickets.”

His Como club is leading the transfer market with over $100 million spent, placing it in the top ten in Europe. “The goal is to build a competitive team for the future,” explained president Mirwan Suwarso in an interview with La Stampa. “We tried with Theo Hernandez but it didn’t work out, and Thiaw also turned us down,” revealed the 39-year-old Indonesian manager appointed by the Hartono family, who took over the club in 2019. There are many projects, with a clear goal: “We need to follow the business models of Napoli, Atalanta, and Bologna.”

The brand—  While talks continue with Real Madrid to keep Nico Paz: “The meetings so far have been positive, it will take time,” the stadium project also continues: “If we qualify for Europe, we have an agreement to play in Udine,” with the idea of opening up to the world: “There are great teams and players in Italy, we need to try to attract a new audience.” With a clear idea in mind: “Here, the brand is Lake Como, and we are focusing on that.” So Hollywood stars and even Messi’s wife are coming to the stands: “We don’t invite them, they come to Como on vacation and ask us to see the games. Messi was a guest of Fabregas’ wife. It would be a dream if he came here. But we haven’t had any contact.” The other big dream is popular soccer: “Making the stands free and then maybe the reserved seats, because soccer belongs to the people.”