Cesc Fabergas targeting Serie A after taking over as Como manager

Cesc Fabregas is determined to take Como to Serie A after taking over as boss at the Italian club.

The former Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona midfielder, who is an investor in the club along with Thierry Henry, replaced Moreno Longo as interim boss on Monday in what is his first managerial position.

He ended his playing career in the lakeside city last season and was coach of the club's under-19s before getting the top job.

Como are a club on the rise, having won two promotions following a 2019 takeover. They currently sit sixth in Serie B

The Spaniard says he does not see the position as a stepping stone for a Premier League job, but a long-term project to get them to the top tier in Italy.

"Obviously, now it is one of the main objectives, 100 per cent," he said at Web Summit in Lisbon. "Whatever my role is I will always give my best.

"When I joined the club one of the main objectives was to become the coach of Como 1907, I didn’t expect it to come so soon because I retired a little bit earlier, I could still be playing.

"It is an opportunity for me. It is a long-term project, I am not here for two days or two months, it is a long thing. I trust the club, I trust the people, my family has found happiness in Como.

"I feel great, I feel ready. This is something that happened very quickly in the last couple of days.

"I have a lot of respect for the manager that was in charge for the last year and a half. I am used to the pressure, I am used to the requirements that the club wants, I am looking forward to it, it is very, very exciting."

"Instead of investing heavily in the transfer window in the wrong bloke we had to fix it so that is why we pulled the trigger" - Mirwan Suwarso

Mirwan Suwarso, representative of the Como ownership