Como midfielder Martin Baturina heads into a pre-season fixture against Liverpool with momentum behind him, having scored the goal that drew Cesc Fàbregas's side level against Arsenal in London before the Premier League champions won on penalties. The 23-year-old Croatian now faces another high-profile audition as Como prepare for the 2025-26 Serie A season.
The Liverpool match matters because it extends a pre-season narrative that Baturina has largely written himself. Two consecutive high-profile friendlies, two appearances in the headlines. For a player who finished the previous campaign with six goals and three assists across 29 Serie A matches — an average rating of 7.10 — the question entering a new season is whether those numbers represent a ceiling or a baseline. An AI potential score of 84 out of 100, against a current overall of 76, suggests the analytical models see room for a significant step forward.
Como's position in the table — fourth with 71 points from 38 matches, a record of 20 wins, 11 draws, and seven defeats — frames what Fàbregas is building on the shores of the lake. A defence that conceded just 29 goals across the campaign is the structural foundation; the attack, which produced 65, needs creative midfielders operating at their best. Baturina is central to that equation.
The club has also been linked with Liam Delap from Chelsea as Fàbregas continues to shape his squad, a pattern of recruitment that has seen Como punch consistently above their expected weight. Adding depth around Baturina rather than competition for his role would allow the Croatian to operate with the freedom his best performances require.
Against Liverpool, Baturina has the chance to demonstrate that the Arsenal equaliser was not an isolated moment of pre-season brightness but evidence of a player arriving at the version of himself the data has long projected.