Jesús Rodríguez Rediscovers the Game in Como

Jesús Rodríguez has adapted quickly to Como and to Italy. “I’m settling in very well,” he says. “I feel really comfortable with my teammates, the ones I already knew like Assan, Jaco and Álex Valle. Honestly, I feel great, they’re helping me a lot.”

The Spanish-speaking players have made the transition easier, helping him both on the pitch and off it. “They’re helping me with everything from our game model, which is different from what I had at my former club, to everyday life here. I live almost next door to Álex Valle and Assan and we meet up around the city from time to time. It’s all going very well.”

The decision to come to Como was guided by what he saw as a clear path forward. “I saw an ambitious project with a real desire to win, one that believes in young players and isn’t afraid to put them on the pitch. There’s a clear game model and, above all, an ambitious plan.”

From Spain, the perception is similar. “People see it as a club that’s growing in big strides, with an ambitious project. If it keeps going this way, it will soon be among the very best.”

Leaving Real Betis was not easy for him. “Leaving what had been my home for four or five years was very tough. I had everything there, my family, my friends, everything. At the club, it hurt as well because I built great relationships with many teammates, the kit men, the physios. It was hard. But life gives you opportunities and sometimes you can’t pass them up. I’m happy with the decision I made and I hope to return one day to what has been my home.”

At Como he is working under Cesc Fàbregas, an influence that motivates him daily. “Day in, day out in training, the intensity is incredible. And as you said, he’s a World Cup champion, we all know what he’s achieved. When someone like that coaches you, you believe even more in his ideas and are more faithful to them. That helps the team and the staff a lot.”

What impresses him most is the ambition that Fàbregas transmits. “For the wingers he insists a lot on pressing, pressing hard, and whenever we can going one on one, taking people on. For us, that’s fantastic.”

He embraces the competition in attack. “Competition up front is always good. It means that if you relax even a little, there’s a teammate right behind you pushing to get on the pitch. It helps you improve every day, not to switch off in training or in matches. The competition is healthy.”

On the differences between Spain and Italy, he is clear. “In Spain the football is more tactical, while here in Italy it’s more physical, more one on one all over the pitch. You don’t see that as much in Spain. In the end they’re different game models in different countries, that’s all.”

His goal for this season is simple but powerful. “My goal is to enjoy football again, like I did when I was younger. There was a moment when I stopped enjoying what I was doing. Reflecting on it, I told myself that can’t happen, this is what I’ve fought for since I was a kid. I can’t lose that excitement and the desire to come to training every day. So day by day, enjoy it again, because at one point I lost that desire to play. Above all, enjoy it and show my best version.”

Still only nineteen, Rodríguez is already building his place in Como with honesty and determination. His game carries speed and intent, his words carry clarity. Life on the lake is giving him space to grow and the chance to rediscover what brought him into football in the first place — the joy of playing.