Santiago Gimenez might have hoped for a better start to life at AC Milan, but he still enjoys the full trust of the club.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport write, Gimenez cost around €30m and in just over two months (11 appearances) he has scored three goals, for a not inconsiderable price of €10m per goal. Having signed a deal until 2029 though, Gimenez has all the time to justify Milan’s investment.
A few days away from his 24th birthday, on April 18, Gimenez cannot be branded as a flop, even if it is true that at Milan he went from the status of top four saviour to third in the centre-forward hierarchies.
Performance levels
Gimenez started strong, with two consecutive goals in the league against Empoli and Verona, and with a goal against his former club Feyenoord at San Siro in the Champions League play-offs, an illusory goal given the eventual elimination.
Then, the darkness set in and the loss of his permanent position follows. In the last two rounds, against Napoli and Fiorentina, he was relegated to being a reserve option. This was partly due to his physical condition and partly because of the resurgence of Tammy Abraham and Luka Jovic.
Failing to convert a penalty at the Maradona did not help, and now Milan fans are starting to wonder if Gimenez is ‘not a dud or a shooting star’ but rather ‘a kind of Luther Blissett of the new millennium’. However, the comparison is wide of the mark.
Gimenez-style strikers need to be supported with a clear playing style and Sergio Conceiçao’s Milan struggles in this respect. It is not clear what the ideas are that Conceiçao is trying to convey, and they constantly go behind in games.
Then there is the acclimatisation aspect. As for the defensive phase, there is no comparison between the Eredivisie and Serie A. In the Netherlands the defences are far from the physical, rough, man-to-man rearguards seen in Italy.
It is likely that today Gimenez feels suffocated, that he suffers from getting less space. At Feyenoord, however, he also scored goals in Europe, including five against Lazio in the Champions League and Europa League and one against Roma in the Europa League. So, he can do it.
What the future holds
Conceiçao will leave at the end of May, and the new coach will determine Gimenez’s fate, in agreement with the new sporting director. These are figures yet to come. Talks are underway for the sporting director, it is likely that there are movements for the coach too.
Gimenez is clearly a talented striker but perhaps not the ideal centre-forward for every coach. Antonio Conte has Romelu Lukaku, and Gimenez has little in common with the Belgian. Massimiliano Allegri had Dusan Vlahovic, and Roberto De Zerbi would perhaps prefer another mould too.
These are examples, based on the names that are circulating as the possible new manager of Milan. It will be important to ask whoever arrives what he thinks of Gimenez, and in the event of critical judgments it will be necessary to act accordingly.
Forcing situations doesn’t pay, in the event it’s better to ‘use’ Gimenez as a bargaining chip or sell him. It’s an extreme hypothesis, but at this stage nothing can be ruled out.
