Como midfielder Jayden Osei Addai enters the final weeks of pre-season as the club around him transforms at a pace that leaves little room for peripheral figures. The lariani, who finished fifth in Serie A 2025-26 with 68 points and secured a historic first Champions League qualification, have spent the summer adding Andrés Cuenca from Barcelona, confirming Mattia Liberali, and now pursuing Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah with a third formal offer — a recruitment drive that speaks to ambition and, implicitly, to the pressure it creates on those already inside the building.

For a 20-year-old with 12 Serie A appearances, three goals, and an average rating of 6.90 last season, the arithmetic is uncomfortable. Osei Addai contributed meaningfully when called upon — three goals from a midfield role is a return that demands notice — but the club's trajectory now points toward European competition, and Fàbregas's Como are building a squad calibrated for that stage.

The departure of Vojvoda to Udinese on a permanent deal shows the club is also willing to trim, and the renewal of captain Da Cunha until 2031 — with the player himself stating that Champions League qualification is not a destination but a starting point — signals the cultural standard being set. Osei Addai's AI profile, rated at 50 overall with a potential ceiling of 68, places him in the category of players who could develop into useful contributors, but not yet at the level a Champions League squad demands as a first choice.

The question Fàbregas's staff must answer is whether Osei Addai develops faster inside this environment or whether a loan away from Como — to a club where he plays regularly — accelerates the gap between his current level and his ceiling more efficiently. Three goals in 12 appearances suggests he can find the net when given the opportunity. The problem is that opportunities are about to become considerably scarcer.

Martin Baturina's situation adds another layer: with English clubs circling the Croatian midfielder, a potential exit could theoretically open minutes in the middle. But Como's response to any such departure would almost certainly be another external signing rather than an internal promotion, given the pattern of this window.

Osei Addai is not a player in crisis. He is a young midfielder at a club that has outgrown the space it once had for development-phase footballers. That is a specific and solvable problem — but only if the solution is identified before the window closes.