It does not usually occur that players leave Real Madrid, stay a year away, and have the club willing to pay them a bigger amount to return. Nico Paz could turn out to be the exception. The Argentine midfielder, a youth player at the Spanish club, was sold to Italian side Como in 2024 for 6 million euros. A few months down the line, his name is back on Real Madrid's radar again, with the side considering to exercise the buyback clause that was stipulated in the contract, worth 8 million euros, a month from now in June.
It is just that Nico has played that makes Real Madrid reflect on his comeback. He has played 35 games with the shirt of Como, he has six goals, has eight assists, and has been steady. That in a world of football that bypasses phases and consumes players like gasoline, has value.
There's another angle to the potential Nico Paz comeback. Not just to bolster the squad to feature in the Club World Cup or build the squad before next year. But to sign a player who leaves the world's biggest club, develops there under the radar, and returns a better player than he was when he left. That's not the normal path at 20.
Return of a person who didn't burn out
One of the remarkable things about this story is that Nico didn’t leave Real Madrid in a negative way. There was no disciplinary issue, and his form wasn’t poor. He left because the club, then, didn’t feel there was room. Instead of occupying a place on the substitute’s bench, he set out to find match time. He was a man enough to walk away when it would have been easier to stay.
Now the possibility of his comeback is not because of external pressure but because of his work here in Italy. The form of his wasn't excellent, but his form was steady. He was scoring, he was providing assists, and he was playing. And that is sometimes sufficient to make a big club look again.
Club World Cup As a Thermometer
FIFA Club World Cup will serve as a sufficient testing ground to understand where Nico is at. Real comes in to win, but not by not doing experiments and trials which the tournament can serve. He may just prove his worth and gain brownie points to make a claim to the side if he does a good job. Else, he gets loaned out or shifted once again. But the fact that there is a possibility changes things. Not a lot of 19-year-old players have the chance to play a Club World Cup for one of the world's biggest teams. Fewer still after leaving and then coming back within a relatively short timespan.