Breakout Picks · Updated August 2026

Nico Paz

soccer · Como (loan from Real Madrid; buyback 2027-28) · CAM · age 21 · about a year

Breakout94/100
Card upside94/100
Accessibility65/100
Risk22/100
25/26 Serie A 21 G+A in 40 games — led Como to Champions League for 1st time in history; SOLD permanently to Como €60MWC update Argentina 3-2 Cape Verde (July 3 AET) — advanced; Paz was unused sub; vs Egypt in R16 next

Nico Paz — soccer, CAM, Como (loan from Real Madrid; buyback 2027-28), age 21. One of 82 entries, each scored on four separate axes rather than given a single grade.

At 65, accessibility is unusually good for something scored this highly elsewhere. Cards like that don't stay accessible forever, which is the argument for looking now rather than later.

Breakout (94) and card upside (94) sit close together, which is the straightforward case: if the performance arrives, the cards should follow it rather than shrug.

Set against the 6 soccer breakout picks scored here, its breakout of 94 ranks 1st of 6, card upside 94 ranks 2nd, accessibility 65 ranks 5th, and risk 22 is the 1st-lowest. The closest thing to it on the numbers is Yan Diomande, which scores 80 and 90 on the same two axes — if you're weighing one against the other, the difference is in the reasoning rather than the scores.

A one-year horizon means you're betting on a single body of work — one season, essentially. That's a much narrower bet than a career, and it should be sized like one.

At 22, this is one of the calmer entries in here. Read that as relative: the floor under any card is whatever the next person will pay, and that number can move a long way in a month.

Price range $—–$— · verdict — · full reasoning, entry timing, what would change our mind, and the specific cards this applies to
Three things are behind the login for this entry: the price range we think is fair, the buy, hold or sell call, and the full reasoning — including what would change it.
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How to read these four numbers

Every entry gets four separate scores instead of one grade, because a single grade hides the thing you needed. Full explanation in the guide: how to spot a breakout before the cards move.

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