Report: Arsenal keen on €80m Argentinian star

Report: Arsenal keen on €80m Argentinian star Nico Paz, Arsenal and Real Madrid: Why 2027 Could Define the Como Star’s Future Nico Paz has put himself in a position few young players manage. At 22, he has already left Real Madrid, flourished in Serie A, become central to Como’s rise under Cesc Fàbregas and, now, attracted renewed attention from Arsenal. The situation is not complicated because of the player, it is complicated because Real Madrid made sure it would be. According to El Des Marque, Arsenal are tracking Paz closely and could look to move for him in January 2027. That part is straightforward enough. A technically gifted attacking midfielder, productive in a major league, young, improving, and already tested at senior level, fits the sort of profile elite clubs monitor constantly. What changes everything is the structure around him. Real Madrid no longer own Paz outright, but they have not walked away from him either. In June, Como secured the player on a permanent deal worth €60 million, while Madrid kept a unilateral buy-back option worth €80 million for the summer of 2027. In other words, if Arsenal want him, they are not simply negotiating with Como. They are stepping into a situation where Madrid can re-enter the picture at any point that matters most. This is why the story has gained traction. It is not merely about Arsenal liking a player. Plenty of clubs like plenty of players. It is about whether Arsenal can make a move before Madrid decide they want control again, and whether Paz himself believes the timing is right to leave the environment that has made him such a high-value asset. Photo: IMAGO Arsenal Interest Meets Real Madrid Control The first thing to say is that Arsenal’s interest makes football sense. Paz has developed from a promising academy product into a serious first-team performer. He can operate between lines, carry the ball, create, score, and dictate attacking sequences with the sort of calm that usually comes with more age and more mileage. Clubs shopping at the top end of the market look for upside. Paz has that in abundance. Still, Arsenal would be dealing with a player whose future is not fully in Como’s hands. That is the key point. Madrid inserted a mechanism that allows them to shape events later, and that gives them leverage over any third party. If Arsenal push ahead in 2027, they will need to account for Madrid’s priority position and the possibility that the Spanish giants trigger the buy-back themselves. There is also a secondary layer to this. A buy-back clause is not only a route to reintegration, it can be a strategic asset. Madrid could bring Paz back for €80 million and then decide whether he strengthens their own squad or becomes a saleable premium talent in an even hotter market. Top clubs do this because they understand control is often as important as ownership. Madrid have kept both options alive. From Arsenal’s perspective, that creates uncertainty. If they move too early, they may simply prompt Madrid into action. If they wait, his value may rise again, especially if he performs in the Champions League and continues producing in Serie A. There is no cheap angle into this deal, and there may not be a simple one either. Como Rise Has Changed Nico Paz Market Value Paz’s development in Italy explains why the noise around him has intensified. After leaving Madrid in 2024, he found exactly what many talented young players need and too few elite clubs can guarantee, minutes, responsibility and continuity. Under Fàbregas, he has had all three. In 2024-25, he played 35 Serie A matches, scored six goals and provided eight assists. The following season, he reached another level, again featuring in 35 league games and ending with 12 goals and six assists, according to Opta figures cited in the source piece. Those are not decorative numbers. Those are production levels that force bigger clubs to take notice, especially when attached to a player operating in advanced midfield zones. His influence has been tied to Como’s broader progress too. The club’s rise into the Champions League places Paz on a bigger stage and offers a much stronger test of his ceiling. The report notes he was central to the team and highlighted his latest impact with a goal in a 4-1 win over Genoa, his first of the current Serie A campaign. That matters because momentum matters. A player trending upwards season after season becomes far more difficult to prise away on favourable terms. There is an obvious temptation to describe this as a surprise. It is not. Paz came through Real Madrid’s system for a reason. Talent evaluators at that level do not keep hold of players for sentiment. They keep them because they detect top-level qualities early. What Como have done well is provide a pathway for those qualities to become visible every week. That also explains why Madrid did not force the issue earlier. The report makes clear they had once held a much lower buy-back clause, around €9 million, but chose instead to renegotiate when Como paid €60 million for full rights. On the face of it, that sounds odd. In reality, it is calculated. Madrid banked significant value, retained future influence and avoided bringing back a player who preferred to stay where he was guaranteed prominence. The article adds that Madrid officially confirmed the arrangement allowing him to continue in Italy happened “a petición del propio jugador”. That detail is significant because it tells you the player was not ready to return to a less certain role. He chose progression over prestige, and that decision has aged well. Three Scenarios Could Shape 2027 Transfer Battle Strip away the noise and there are three plausible outcomes. The first is the simplest. Paz stays at Como through the season, plays Champions League football, continues as one of the team’s most influential figures and enters the 2027 market with his value even higher than it is now. From a player development perspective, this is the safest route. He knows the club, knows the coach, and knows he will play. The second is the Arsenal route. If the London club decide to accelerate and present a serious offer in January 2027, then the pressure shifts immediately to Madrid. Do they step aside and allow Como to negotiate, or do they use the contractual weapon they have preserved? This is where Arsenal’s scouting department, sporting leadership and financial planning would need to be perfectly aligned. Pursuing a player like Paz means preparing for interference from one of the few clubs capable of changing the market by themselves. The third scenario is the most obvious from Madrid’s point of view. They conclude Paz is ready for the Santiago Bernabéu and activate the clause with the intention of keeping him. That possibility cannot be dismissed. Madrid have seen enough homegrown players leave too early and blossom elsewhere. If they believe Paz can contribute to their own senior project, this becomes less a commercial exercise and more a squad-building decision. For the player, none of these options is trivial. His contract with Como runs until June 2028, giving the Italian side a degree of stability. He has regular football there, trust, and a role as the creative fulcrum, effectively the number 10 in a side punching above expectations. Arsenal, of course, offer a different kind of appeal, Premier League visibility, a higher competitive profile week to week, and the chance to establish himself in England while still young enough to grow into the role. Yet this is where blunt realism is required. Moving clubs is not progress by default. A bigger badge and a larger fee do not guarantee a better football decision. Paz has improved because he has been allowed to play and fail and play again. If Arsenal want him, they need a plan as much as they need money. If Madrid want him back, they need a pathway as much as they need nostalgia. Nico Paz Transfer Decision Will Depend on Timing Timing usually decides these cases more than desire does. Everyone involved can make a decent argument. Como can offer continuity and status. Arsenal can offer the Premier League and a major role in a side that keeps looking for more craft and incision in advanced areas. Real Madrid can offer a return to the highest tier of European football under their own roof. Paz can reasonably wait because he holds the strongest card of all, form. That is why 2027 looms so large. The buy-back clause becomes active at exactly the point where his development may be impossible to ignore. If he stagnates, the clause looks expensive. If he keeps progressing, €80 million could quickly start to look manageable by elite-club standards. Football economics are often absurd, but they are ruthlessly consistent when a player is young, productive and marketable. Arsenal, then, are not merely chasing talent. They are potentially stepping into a contest with a club that designed this entire arrangement so they could intervene later. Madrid sold well, protected themselves and bought time. Como got a star and a cornerstone player. Paz got the minutes he needed. Everyone came out of the initial deal with something useful. The next phase is where interests may collide. For now, the smart reading is simple. Arsenal’s interest is real enough to watch. Real Madrid’s power over the situation is real enough to fear. Como still provide the best immediate environment for the player. And Nico Paz has earned the right to let the market come to him rather than rush toward it. That is what makes this one worth following. Not hype, not fantasy, and not a made-up tug of war. Just a very good young player, a smart Italian project, an elite English suitor and a Spanish superpower that never fully let go. Our View From an Arsenal supporter’s perspective, this feels like the sort of move the club should be exploring aggressively. Nico Paz looks like a player with personality, technical quality and output, and those are the profiles that tend to age well in top-level squads. If he has already handled Serie A responsibility and the pressure of becoming Como’s creative leader, then he is clearly more than a speculative prospect. The concern is obvious, Real Madrid. When they retain that level of control, you are never dealing on clean terms. Arsenal would need total clarity on whether Paz is viewed as a starter, a rotation option, or part of a bigger tactical reshuffle. There is no point paying elite money for a player if another elite club can distort the process at will. That said, if Arsenal truly believe he can elevate the squad, then hesitation can be costly. Top clubs often miss out because they wait for certainty that never comes. Paz seems to offer imagination, final-third quality and the sort of upward curve that justifies a bold decision. As fans, you would rather the club take a swing on a player rising fast than spend months circling and watching somebody else settle the question. If the chance is there, Arsenal should be ready. Source: El Des Marque