Some players announce themselves with a single moment. Others spend an entire season proving there was never any doubt. Nico Paz belongs firmly in the second category, and Italian football has now made it official. At the Gran Gala del Calcio 2026 in Milan, Nico Paz won the Serie A Best Young Player of the Season award, capping off a campaign that turned Como from a newly promoted underdog story into a genuine Champions League club.
This is not a small achievement dressed up as a big one. This is the real deal.
The Night Serie A Crowned Its Future
The Gran Gala del Calcio is Italian football’s version of France’s UNFP Trophies, the ceremony where the league stops to recognize the season that just ended.
Federico Dimarco walked away with Serie A Player of the Year after inspiring Inter Milan to the title with seven goals and eighteen assists.
Cesc Fabregas, the man who has quietly built one of Europe’s most exciting projects at Como, took Coach of the Year.
But it was Nico Paz’s name that had neutrals smiling the widest, as the 21-year-old Argentine was named Best Young Serie A Player and earned a spot in the league’s official Team of the Season alongside the likes of Lautaro Martinez, Hakan Calhanoglu, and Luka Modric.
The Numbers That Back Up the Hype
Paz did not just show up in 2025-26, he dominated. Across Serie A and the Coppa Italia, he produced thirteen goals and eight assists, numbers that place him among the most productive attacking midfielders anywhere in Europe’s top five leagues. In Serie A alone he hit twelve goals, tied for fifth most in the entire division, while also ranking joint fifth in assists. His campaign began with a statement, scoring and assisting on the opening day against Lazio, and it never really slowed down from there.
The bigger picture matters just as much as the individual numbers. Paz was central to Como qualifying for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in the club’s history, a genuinely remarkable achievement for a side that only returned to Serie A a couple of seasons ago.
From Real Madrid Academy Graduate to Serie A’s Brightest Talent
Paz’s rise has a fascinating backstory. A Real Madrid academy product, he moved to Como in 2024 for a reported six million euros, with Los Blancos retaining a buy-back clause that could bring him home. That clause now looks like one of the shrewdest pieces of business in recent transfer history, because the player Real Madrid let go for pocket change has become one of the most watchable midfielders on the continent.
What Comes Next for Nico Paz
With his buy-back window active and incoming Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho reportedly keeping close tabs, speculation about a return to Spain will only intensify. Whether Paz stays in Italy for one more season or heads back to the Bernabeu, one thing is beyond debate: he is no longer a promising young talent. He is one of the best midfielders in Europe, full stop.
Serie A has crowned its new golden boy, and this feels like just the beginning of the Nico Paz story.
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