Respect the process – Cesc Fabregas committed to long-term plan at striving Como

Cesc Fabregas says Italian club Como must remain committed to their long-term plan even if their progress is expedited by winning promotion to Serie A this season.

The former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder is assistant manager at the lakeside club and, working under Welshman Osian Roberts, has guided them into the automatic promotion positions in Serie B.

They currently have a three-point lead over third-placed Venezia and if they do not falter in their final five games they will return to the top flight of Italian football for the first time since 2003.

The club have been declared bankrupt twice since then, but the 2019 takeover by Indonesian company Djarum Group heralded a new dawn.

They are owners with big ambitions and they sought out advice from people in the game, with Thierry Henry and Fabregas becoming minority shareholders, while former England international Dennis Wise has also acted in an advisory role.

When Fabregas joined Como as a player in the summer of 2022, it could have been easy to think he was easing into retirement in an idyllic part of the world.