As Nico Paz stepped up to take the free kick, there was an air of inevitability.

Como were already 1-0 ahead when the Argentine stood over the dead ball, but as the tension bristled inside the Stadio Sinigaglia, the whistles growing with every second, there was a sense that Paz would make something happen.

The 20-year-old proceeded to bend with ball with the inside of his left foot into the top corner of Ivan Provedel’s goal, giving the experienced stopper no chance. The game was as good as done.

It put the finishing touch on a splendid performance by the Argentine, who laid a marker down for the season.

Yet it wasn’t just the free-kick that stood Paz out from most on the pitch. His overall performance was assured as it was graceful.

Paz ghosted in between the lines of the Lazio defence, causing havoc from the first minute. Maurizio Sarri’s beleaguered central defenders, Oliver Provstgaard and Mario Gila, didn’t know how to deal with him.

The same applied to Sarri’s midfielders, with Matteo Guendouzi, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and Danilo Cataldi losing Paz time and again, as he drifted from one area to the next.

Yet even before his stunning free-kick Paz had proven to be decisive. Como had been dominant against a poor Lazio outfit in the first half, but lacked teeth in the final third. One minute into the second, Paz rectified that. 

Receiving the ball from Jacopo Ramon on the half-turn near the right-hand touchline, Paz spun Nuno Taveres in knots, before leaving him for dust and sliding the most elegant of through balls between several Lazio players into the feet of Greek striker Tasos Douvikas, who held off the ineffectual Gila to make it 1-0.

Douvikas took all the plaudits, but it was all about Paz, and proof that hard work pays off.

“With him we’ve worked a lot,” said Cesc Fabregas after the game. “From the start of pre-season he’s trained without break, repetition, free kick after free kick.

“In the end the struggle pays off, and he presented you with a decisive goal. He also provided the assist that won us the three points.”

Paz’s performance arrived on the same evening Tottenham reportedly bid €50m to take him to the Premier League. The bid was instantly rejected by Como, who realise the fortunes of the team are linked to the dazzling youngster’s brilliance.

For his part, Paz is happy on the lake. Sometimes his performances can belie his precocious age, but the Argentine is only 20, and has a long future ahead in the game. 

Earlier this month, Paz spoke of his happiness at Como, saying: “I couldn’t ask to be better at the moment. I’m happy and in a beautiful city with a beautiful team.”

Paz made waves in his debut campaign in Serie A, scoring six goals in 35 games. Signed from Real Madrid for just €6m, that investment in hindsight looks a masterstroke.

Yet Madrid is always lurking in the background, keeping an eye on their former youth product. 

The club have a buyback option which runs until the summer of 2027, and the prevailing logic would dictate a future return to the Santiago Bernabeu shouldn’t be ruled out. Shrewdly, Madrid can buy Paz back for as little as €10m.

Of course, being a left-footed Argentine and playing as a number 10 comes with unrealistic, and often soul-crushing, expectations. Paz, who had the option to represent Spain, made his debut for La Seleccion in the 6-0 demolition of Bolivia last October, coming on the final 18 minutes.

Since then he’s made two more appearances, but obvious comparisons to Lionel Messi won’t do anything for the player’s development.

Before Messi arrived to buck the trend, Argentina had a graveyard full of the ‘next’ Diego Maradonas: Diego Latorre, Marcelo Gallardo, Ariel Ortega, Juan Roman Riquelme, Pablo Aimar, Carlos Tevez, Javier Saviola and many more were handed the moniker, never coming close to lifting the most heavy of crowns.

Once Messi finally drifts off into the sunset, likely after the 2026 World Cup, there’ll be a line of ‘new’ Messis. 

Paz will be one of the first off the production line. Yet he’s a different kind of number 10 to Messi: less dynamic and more cerebral, perhaps.

Moreover, players like Franco Mastantuono and Claudio Echeverri are more prominent in the Argentine eye than Paz, with a recognition the latter has went somewhat under the radar as a result of leaving the country at a young age. Just like Messi.

Yet such worries are for the future. Paz is enjoying his football at Como and if his performance against Lazio was anything to go by, this could be his season.