Just one decade ago the very future of Como 1907 was in doubt.
Despite possessing a rich history - including having being crowned Serie B winners on three different occasions - the Lombardy-based club had suffered various financial hardships in the early years of the new millennium.
An initial bankruptcy in 2004 saw the club fall into the fourth tier, and despite climbing their way back up the leagues in the years that followed financial problems continued to rear their head.
After again being declared bankrupt in 2016, the club's fortunes began to change following a takeover by brothers Robert Budi Hartono and Michael Bambanh Hartono, heads of the Djarum Group and among the richest men in the world.
The new owners provided much-needed investment in the club and brought in a number of respected figures in the world of football to help guide their ascent up the leagues, with former Chelsea midfielder Dennis Wise appointed as CEO and experienced head coach Giacomo Gattuso returning to the club as manager.
Under Gattuso the club managed to establish themselves in Serie B before they made headlines across the footballing world by signing Cesc Fabregas, who would not only see out his playing days at the club but also serve as a minority stakeholder.
Further change in the dugout followed the season after as Gattuso departed the club due to personal reasons and was replaced by Moreno Longo.
Longo's time at the club proved to be relatively brief, and in November 2023 he was sacked despite the club sitting sixth in Serie B, and replaced with Fabregas - who had yet to complete the relevant coaching badges to take charge at the level.
The decision proved highly contentious but Fabregas made an immediate impact losing just one of his six games in charge, before being forced to step down when the special dispensation he had been granted by the Italian FA expired.
Former Wales youth coach Osian Roberts took caretaker charge until the end of the season with Fabregas as his assistant, and together they masterminded a strong end to the season that saw the club claim promotion via a second-place finish on the final day.
Return to Serie A
With his coaching badges completed Fabregas returned to the position of head coach in the summer in time to lead the club to their first season in the top flight for more than two decades.
Despite their financial might Como spent conservatively over the summer, with the £6million spent on German midfielder Yannik Engelhardt marking their biggest outlay.
The free signing of Raphael Varane from Manchester United represented the kind of marquee arrival many expected of the club, but the World Cup winner suffered a knee injury on his debut and retired from football just weeks later.
A difficult start to life back in Serie A threatened to put a premature end to the fairytale story but Como rallied in the closing stages of the season, recording six wins on the bounce between April and May to ultimately record a top-half finish.
Heading into this season the club continue with their policy of investing in youth and their approach paid dividends as they lost just one of their opening 13 games to emerge as genuine contenders in the race for European football.
On the final day of the season they claimed a 4-1 win over Cremonese to finish fourth in the top flight and qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history.
"It's up there with all my achievements for how it was done and with whom we did it," said Fabregas.
"We did it with very young players, almost all of them are under 23 years old. That's amazing,"
