Glamorous actors and Champions League fixtures wouldn’t be possible without Indonesian brothers Robert and Michael Hartono, who made their fortune primarily from tobacco, and bought Como in 2019, rescuing the club from financial instability as it languished in Serie D. Shrewd boardroom appointments, including Dennis Wise, Thierry Henry and crucially Fàbregas in 2022, put the lakesiders onto a sharp upwards trajectory. Michael passed away earlier this year, making Robert the sole owner in charge of delivering on the brothers’ promise to invest in the city and community, and make Como one of the top tourist attractions in the world.
“Us Como folk can be a bit closed off, but the new owners have entered our hearts,” Levrini adds. “They declared from the start they considered our city the perfect place for them and began building gradually. They started appointing key people in important roles; from communications to the sporting side. From Serie D they worked slowly but surely.”
The Hartono brothers have even given Como’s official merchandise an aggressive boost in quality and quantity. Last season’s home shirt featured an evocative design based on sunlight bouncing off the water. This campaign’s cool white away top comes with the Champions League sleeve patch already stuck on, and the recent 1980s-inspired leisure-wear series has been a roaring success for those who want to pay homage to the past. There are even boating and hiking ranges. Everyone is catered for.
The club’s rapid rise has shocked observers all over the continent, but now the hard part starts. Giulio Saetta covers the Lariani for Gazzetta dello Sport, and tells me that “the objective, obviously, is to do well in the group phase and qualify for the knockout rounds. It’s very difficult to find similar examples of such a quick development in Europe.
“There are, of course, limits. The club is like a start-up now, but the point will arrive when everything stabilises. There are limits to what Como can achieve but right now they aren’t visible because the club is like a company which has invented a new product and is going through maximum expansion.”
Saetta is full of praise for Fàbregas. “He has an extra gear, we haven’t had anyone in Italian football with his mentality. He is very ambitious but also does things properly and with composure. He oversees every single detail and is tactically very capable, and he is also very good at motivating the squad.
“Despite being inexperienced as a coach he is doing so well. He’s only had his coaching licence for three years, but the fact that he started playing in the Premier League aged 16 and quickly became a leader may explain that something extra he possesses.”
For years the dream European football tour has remained unchanged; after all, it takes something very special to jostle with Barcelona, Liverpool, Madrid et al for your attention. But now there is a new arrival which offers breathtaking nature, attractive architecture and, of course, a skilful football team. The minnow from the lake is ready to take on Europe.
