Marc Oliver Kempf The Defender Who Found Renewal On The Lake

Marc Oliver Kempf arrived in Como with the quiet conviction of a player who needed a different chapter. Since arriving at Como 1907 in August 2024 on a three-year deal the 30-year-old German centre-back has embraced both the challenge on the pitch and the change of scenery off it. A new league. A new culture. A new rhythm.

He talks about it now with a sense of calm clarity. The city feels ordered and welcoming. The lake, he says, gives you a stillness that settles you before you even realise. Leaving Germany was hard but necessary and the shift to a new language and a new culture has opened him up. On the pitch he feels the growth each week. The team has found a rhythm that feels good and he smiles when he says that anyone who has been to Como knows what this place offers.

The move itself began with data. Scouts flagged him early and then the coach, Cesc Fàbregas picked up the phone. The call was short but decisive. Kempf felt the honesty and the scale of the project. For a footballer, he says, the privilege is real. Not many people get the chance to change country through their work. This time he took it.

His admiration for Fabregas is obvious. He talks about the intensity on the training pitch and the legacy of a man who played for his country, Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona. You can see the high standards in every drill.

Off the pitch Kempf settled fast. English speakers in the squad helped those first few weeks and he has committed fully to learning Italian. Finding a teacher who knew both German and Italian took time but now the lessons have become a weekly anchor. He says he understands almost everything in training even if the speaking still pushes him every day.

Match days at the Sinigaglia have taken him by surprise. He calls it an old stadium with a pulse. In Germany he played in arenas that held forty or fifty thousand people. Here ten thousand stand right above the pitch and create something fierce and close. The noise is direct. The atmosphere wraps around you.

His reading of the differences between the Italian and German games is instinctive. Italy is more tactical, he says. Every day includes some form of tactical work and possession is prized as a way to regain control after transition. In Germany the running demand is higher and the game is more physical with faster swings of momentum.

The moment that has defined his journey so far arrived on an afternoon that will live in Como for decades. A 2-0 win against Juventus. Kempf scored the first goal arriving at the far post he met a cross from Nico Paz and drove it into the net with a combination of timing and presence and then defended like a man carrying the mood of the entire stadium. He won duels. He blocked shots. He fought for every ball. Eight of the team’s twenty one clearances belonged to him. The bandage wrapped around his head in the second half told the rest of the story.

Quel gol era stato provato e riprovato con Marco Cassetti e Cristiano Scazzola che lo hanno trasformato in uno dei difensori più pericolosi della Serie A in termini di expected goals. Quel colpo di testa ha richiamato quanto fatto a Firenze qualche mese prima quando aveva scavalcato Robin Gosens per segnare il pareggio prima della rete decisiva per la vittoria di Addai.

This defensive work has defined Como’s rise. The team has faced amongst the  fewest shots on target in Serie A and ranks among the best in expected goals conceded. A side praised for its attacking spark has become one of the most efficient and intense defensive units in the league. Kempf’s role in that transformation is clear. Strong in the air. Calm with the ball. Fierce in duels. Reliable in the moments that matter most.

His fortieth appearance for the club delivered the landmark. The first win over Juventus in seventy three years sealed by his instinct and his determination.

When you speak to him now you sense a player who sees the weight of this chapter. From his youth days in Frankfurt through Freiburg Stuttgart and Hertha he has carried himself with consistency. At Como he has found renewal. A fresh purpose. A sense of belonging. On a lake that reflects the mountains and the sky he has become part of the landscape. A leader. A guardian. A player whose presence gives shape to the club’s ambition.