Nicolás Paz Martínez (born 8 September 2004) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for club

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

. Born in Spain, he plays for the Argentina national team.

Club career

Real Madrid

Early career

A youth product of CD San Juan and

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

, Paz joined the Real Madrid's '' La Fábrica'' in 2016. Initially starting his career as a central defender, Paz moved further up the pitch as he developed. After playing as a centre forward, he switched to the wing, where he played for the under-19 side. He is also comfortable operating as a central midfielder or playmaker. He made his debut for Real Madrid's B-team in a 3–1 win over

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

in January 2022, coming on as an 82nd-minute substitute for Iván Morante.

2023–24: First-team debut

On 8 November 2023, Paz made his first-team and Champions League debut for

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

in a

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

match against

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

as a substitute in the 77th minute to replace

Federico Valverde Federico Santiago Valverde Dipetta (; born 22 July 1998) is a Uruguayan professional association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Real Madrid and the Uruguay national football team, Uruguay national team. Mainly a Central ...

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (, ) is a retractable roof association football, football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a seating capacity of around 83,000 following its extensive renovation completed in late 2024, the stadium has the second-largest ...

. On 11 November 2023, Paz made his

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

debut for Madrid in a 5–1 victory over

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, coming on as a substitute in the 82nd minute for

Dani Carvajal Daniel Carvajal Ramos (; born 11 January 1992) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a right back, right-back for La Liga club Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid and the Spain national football team, Spain national te ...

. On 29 November, he scored his first goal in the Champions League, securing a 4–2 win against

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

Como

On 25 August 2024, Paz signed for newly promoted

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

on a four-year deal for a reported €6 million fee. The following day, he made his debut for the club, coming on as a substitute in a 1–1 draw against

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

. On 19 October, he scored his first goal for Como in a 1–1 draw against

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

International career

Born in

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife (; locally ), commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz, is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and one of the capitals of the Canary Islands, along with Las Palmas. Santa Cruz has a ...

, Canary Islands, Paz was eligible to represent both Spain and Argentina at international level. He was first called up to the senior Argentina national team in March 2022. Paz also was called up to the Argentina under-20 side for the

2022 Maurice Revello Tournament The 2022 Maurice Revello Tournament (officially ), was the 48th edition of the Maurice Revello Tournament, an annual, international, age-restricted football tournament, which was formerly known as the Toulon Tournament. It was held in the departmen ...

in France. He was later named in Argentina's preliminary 48-man squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

in Qatar. On 15 October 2024, Paz made his senior debut for Argentina in a 6–0 win over

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying match, recording an assist for

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...

. Many sources close to the AFA, including Gustavo Peralta of San Clemente, have touted Paz as the future star of the team.

Personal life

Paz is the son of former Argentine international

Pablo Paz Pablo Ariel Paz Gallo (born 27 January 1973) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a central defender. In a career that spanned 15 years, he played more in Spain than in his homeland, notably with Tenerife for which he ap ...

, who played at the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

in France. His mother is Spanish.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Real Madrid *

: 2023–24 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

: 2023–24 Individual * Serie A Best Under-23: 2024–25 *

Team of the Season: 2024–25 * ''The Athletic'' Serie A Team of the Season: 2024–25

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paz, Nico 2004 births Living people Spanish people of Argentine descent Sportspeople of Argentine descent Footballers from Santa Cruz de Tenerife Argentine men's footballers Argentine sportspeople of Spanish descent Argentina men's youth international footballers Argentina men's international footballers Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards CD Tenerife players Real Madrid Castilla footballers Real Madrid CF players Como 1907 players Primera Federación players La Liga players Serie A players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy 21st-century Argentine sportsmen 21st-century Spanish sportsmen