Como midfielder Martin Baturina has moved from Champions League debutant to established European presence in the space of a week, his performance in the 4-1 victory against RB Leipzig drawing praise from figures well beyond the Lombardy club's immediate orbit. Alessandro Del Piero singled out the players, staff and ownership at Como for their debut campaign showing — the only Italian side to win on matchday one — while Thierry Henry, speaking from the CBS Sports studio after the result, directed a pointed remark at Baturina specifically, warning the 23-year-old Croatian that he would not receive his next paycheck. The joke, presumably, was the highest form of television flattery.
What makes Baturina's trajectory worth examining seriously is that the European stage has arrived before his domestic numbers have even had time to accumulate. Three Serie A matches into the 2026-27 season, he has contributed two goals and one assist, carrying an average rating of 7.34 — figures that place him among the more productive midfielders in Fà bregas's system at this early stage. Como sit sixth in the table with seven points from three matches, a record of two wins and a draw, having scored seven and conceded three. The club's upward arc is not incidental to Baturina's form; the two are feeding each other.
An AI overall of 74 out of 100, with a potential of 82, frames him as a player still ascending rather than one already at his ceiling. At 23, that gap between current output and projected ceiling is the most commercially and tactically interesting number attached to his profile. FÃ bregas's Como have built a system that rewards intelligent movement and technical precision in central areas, and Baturina has responded to that environment with the kind of early-season consistency that sustains a coach's trust through the longer, harder months ahead.
The broader context sharpens the picture. Como were not competing in professional Italian football not long ago; they are now a Champions League participant being assessed for squad value alongside clubs with decades of continental pedigree. Diao's contract extension to 2031, announced this week, signals that the club intends to retain its most important assets rather than treat European exposure as a shop window. Whether Baturina's own future at the club is similarly secured is not confirmed by available information, but the direction of travel at Como — structurally, financially, and on the pitch — suggests a project that wants to keep its best players rather than sell them at the first credible offer.
Three matches is a sample, not a verdict. But Baturina has given FÃ bregas's side two goals, an assist, and a midfield display against Leipzig that earned attention from the game's most recognisable voices. The foundation is there; the question now is whether he can sustain it across a season that runs on two fronts simultaneously.