Serie A side Como picked up a huge 4-1 win over Manchester United on Thursday and the result will live long in the memory of Italian football fans. Martin Baturina starred in the tie and their president has now opened up about how the Croatian was signed by the lakeside club.
The attacker has become one of Como’s most important players this season, having joined in the summer of 2025 from Dinamo Zagreb.
He has already been linked with a host of clubs across Europe and club president Mirwan Suwarso has now revealed what led to the deal.
Suwarso spoke to LNS journalist Hanif Thamrin and he was aksed about the background on the Baturina deal, as he revealed Fabrizio Romano’s role.
Suwarso said- via Calciomercato: “Baturina signed thanks to Football Manager? No, it didn’t exactly happen that way.
“Actually, Fabrizio Romano recommended Baturina to me. One day he said, ‘Are you interested in meeting this player?’ I replied, ‘Who is he? I don’t know him.’ He explained that there was an agent interested in meeting me. I don’t normally meet agents, but I asked who it was. When I heard the name Baturina, it sounded familiar.”
This led to Suwarso asking his data team to assess Baturina further.
“So I asked our data department to study him. They replied, “We don’t even need to look at the numbers; we already know who he is.” But I insisted, “Check it out anyway.” He was playing for Dinamo Zagreb, and I wanted to see if he’d be able to adapt quickly to Serie A.”
Suwarso also disclosed that current Inter star Petar Sucic was Como’s initial target but a deal for him never worked out.
“Actually, the player we initially wanted to buy was Petar Sucic. Yes, the Inter player. We had already reached an agreement with Dinamo Zagreb for him. I don’t remember all the details of that period, but we had an agreement with the club. The problem was that the commissions requested by the agents were almost equal to the price of the player’s transfer, and at that point we said it didn’t make sense to continue.”
“Sucic went to Inter and we had the opportunity to sign Baturina. We were actually looking for a player with more of Sucic’s characteristics, a number 8. But Baturina represented an interesting opportunity. We studied the data, it was all positive, and we decided to proceed.”
Decision paying off
Baturina’s versatility and ability to roam freely in attack seems to really suit Cesc Fabregas’ side. It also brings the most out of him, which is why many top clubs are also after his signature.
So even if Como didn’t initially want Baturina, it is all going in the right direction.
Kaustubh Pandey – GIFN