Como midfielder Jayden Osei Addai enters the 2025-26 pre-season with three Serie A goals from 12 appearances and a club that is simultaneously expanding its ambitions and confronting the structural limits of its roster. At 20, he is one of the younger pieces in a squad that Fàbregas is actively trying to deepen before the Champions League campaign begins.
The urgency around Como's transfer activity is the relevant backdrop for understanding Osei Addai's position. Fàbregas has publicly acknowledged that the lariani could be forced into European competition with a squad of 16 or 17 players — a warning that frames every incoming signing not as a luxury but as a necessity. Como have been linked with Bologna defender Jhon Lucumí and have reportedly accelerated interest in him, while also pursuing other reinforcements. The club that finished fifth in Serie A with 68 points — 19 wins, 11 draws, seven defeats — is now trying to build a roster capable of competing on two fronts simultaneously.
For a midfielder with Osei Addai's profile, that construction project cuts both ways. More bodies in the squad means more competition for minutes. But a Champions League calendar also means more matches, and Fàbregas will need reliable options across the rotation. A player who averaged a rating of 6.90 across his 12 Serie A appearances last season — contributing three goals without a registered assist — has demonstrated enough to remain in the conversation, but not yet enough to be considered indispensable.
The pre-season itself has offered some encouragement for the club's direction. Como came from behind to beat Famalicão in their third pre-season fixture, with Douvikas and Diao among the contributors — a result that suggests Fàbregas is finding attacking combinations even as the squad evolves. Osei Addai's own role in pre-season is not detailed in available reports, but the competitive environment around him is clearly intensifying.
His AI overall rating of 50 out of 100, with a potential ceiling of 68, places him in a developmental bracket: a player whose best football is still ahead of him, but who needs consistent exposure to reach it. At Como, that exposure is not guaranteed. The club is targeting established names — Federico Chiesa was reportedly approached before choosing Liverpool — and the gap between Osei Addai's current output and the calibre of player Fàbregas is recruiting is real.
The question for the season ahead is whether Osei Addai can convert pre-season minutes into a defined role before the squad depth that Fàbregas is building makes that harder to achieve. His age is an asset; his goal return from limited appearances is a legitimate credential. Whether Fàbregas views him as part of the solution to Como's squad arithmetic, or as a player still waiting to be part of it, will determine how his 2025-26 unfolds.