Tottenham Hotspur have enjoyed a complete first-team overhaul this summer to give Roberto De Zerbi the best chance of Premier League success, but one of the main targets has slipped away from the Lilywhites.
Tottenham Hotspur will regret failing to sign Nico Paz in the last two summers, while Como’s talent will tear Manchester United apart. In the Champions League on Tuesday, He had two goals and one assist in a 4-1 win. If you thought that performance was good, it’s only the beginning for the Argentine star.
Michael Carrick will be well aware of the threat the attacking midfielder brings to the clash at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, as well as the long night Harry Maguire and Mathijs de Ligt face before kick-off.
That was evident just two minutes into the match, when Paz broke the deadlock with an audacious curling effort from the edge of the area – an unstoppable force despite the best efforts of Senne Lammens.
The 22-year-old continued to be a headache for the rest of the match, putting relentless pressure on United’s back line with his pace and guile, disappearing almost without touching the ball and reappearing in the space around him to shadow his opponents.
Paz also proved equally dangerous as a provider as he assisted Anastasios Douvikas to double Como’s tally on the evening four minutes into the second half.
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The attacking midfielder picked up the ball halfway into his own half and cut through the United defense before playing a superb pass to Douvikas, who slotted the ball past Lammens to make it 2-0.
However, Paz wasn’t done for the night there. Minutes later, the youngster showed his defensive prowess when he pocketed Carlos Baleba in the United half and blasted home before Lammens curled an effort just wide of the far post to make it 3-0.
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Unusually, Paz played no part in Como’s fourth of the evening as he caught Youri Tielemans on the edge of the area as Jacobo Ramon headed home from close range.
Joshua Zirkzee also pulled one back in added time, although his close-range finish was only a consolation goal after his strike under the bright lights of Europe.
It was a dominant performance from Argentina heartland Como – pulling the strings, demanding plenty of possession and not stopping until about 10 minutes to enjoy a good rest.
The one who ran away
Spurs’ interest in Paz has been well-documented and wasn’t just a panic bid this summer. The Lilywhites have shown an interest in the 2025 youngster, with a package reportedly worth around £61m being presented for the Tenerife-born talent in August.
It came after a breakthrough season with the Serie A rivals, who joined Como from Real Madrid for £50m a year ago.
However, Spurs’ bids were ultimately rejected with Paz wanting to remain in Cesc Fabregas’ side and keeping hold of one of the club’s brightest talents.
That decision eventually paid off big, with Paz going on to score 12 goals and seven assists in Italy’s top flight in the 2025/26 season as Como finished fourth for his efforts.
It has also been suggested that Spurs are considering another bite at the cherry to secure Paz this summer, only for the club to instead splash out £100m for Newcastle United’s Sandro Tonali and £85m for Mateus Fernandes, who have suffered back-to-back Premier League relegations with Southampton and West Ham United.
Despite hopes that both men would miraculously land with Spurs, this season has been incredibly testing. Tonali managed just one assist in the first seven games of the 2026/27 season, while Fernandes failed to produce a result in the same number of games.
Make no mistake, recent history has shown that fielding players who have never been tested in the Premier League is a risky business. Florian Wirtz joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen last summer for around £116m and has only just begun to show that he is getting used to the hustle and bustle of the English game.
However, Paz proved he can hold his own against EPL competition on Tuesday, terrorizing United’s midfield and defense and walking away from the encounter with two goals and an assist to show for it. He is also 6ft 1, with Glenn Hoddle remarking on his “magnificent frame” during the match, and unlike someone like Wirtz, he displays a physicality and tenacity designed for the English game.
It’s a case of Spurs, who have failed to land a deal in back-to-back summers, and could have had that kind of talent this season if they’d gone a little further.
Unfortunately, given Real Madrid’s buy-back clause underlining how highly valued Paz is, it seems like a missed opportunity. He also recently took over Argentina’s number 10 jersey from Lionel Messi, if the path he’s on wasn’t already clear.
It’s going to sting for a while, because the world really is this 22-year-old’s oyster.