Como midfielder Jayden Osei Addai heads into the final stretch of pre-season with another high-profile fixture on the horizon — a friendly against Liverpool — after his club spent the previous week trading blows with Premier League champions Arsenal at the Emirates, drawing 1-1 before losing 5-4 on penalties. For a 20-year-old with 12 Serie A appearances and three goals to his name, the calendar is doing him no favours in terms of anonymity.
The nut of it is this: Como under Francesc Fàbregas are no longer a club that earns credibility by association. Finishing fourth in Serie A last season with 71 points — 20 wins, 11 draws, seven defeats, and a defensive record of 29 goals conceded across 38 matches — they have earned the right to share a pitch with European heavyweights. That context matters enormously for a player like Osei Addai, whose development is being shaped by an environment that expects, rather than aspires to, quality.
His numbers from last season tell a story of controlled emergence. Three goals from 12 appearances, an average rating of 6.90, an AI overall score of 50 with a projected ceiling of 68 — these are the figures of a player who contributes without yet dominating, who is present without yet being indispensable. The gap between 50 and 68 is not a criticism; it is an invitation, and the pre-season schedule Fàbregas has constructed is precisely the kind of environment that can accelerate that journey.
Fàbregas has spoken publicly about the need for Como to show character — a demand that applies to the squad collectively but lands with particular weight on younger players still establishing their place in the rotation. Osei Addai sits squarely in that bracket. The Arsenal friendly, which ended level before penalties, demonstrated that Como can hold their shape against elite opposition. Whether Osei Addai featured in that match is not confirmed by available information, but the competitive standard the club is setting in pre-season is the water he is swimming in regardless.
The Liverpool fixture adds another layer. Fàbregas has also been linked with further squad reinforcements — including a reported interest in a Chelsea player — which means the competition for midfield minutes is unlikely to ease. Osei Addai's path to regular Serie A football runs directly through pre-season performances, and the fixtures being arranged are as demanding as any warm-up schedule in Italian football this summer.
At 20, with a season of top-flight experience behind him and a club operating at the sharper end of Serie A ambition, Osei Addai is not short of opportunity. What he does with the Liverpool fixture, and the weeks that follow, will determine whether his 2026-27 season looks like consolidation or a genuine step forward.