As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) recall this morning, Gimenez bagged an poacher’s header for his country, to remind Milan that the six goals in 19 games do not do justice to his skills as a striker. It was only a friendly, but the news will have reached Allegri too.
Max does not know him yet. He has never coached him, he has never even faced him as an opponent. The two will shake hands at Milanello for the first time in July, when the adventure of the new Milan will begin
From then on ‘El Bebote’ will have to prove to Allegri that he deserves the ranks of the starting centre-forward, beyond the market rumours that are already circulating in the media and social media.
Allegri has always used the metaphor of age categories when talking about footballers. And in which category is Gimenez today? Milan paid €28.5m euros for him, a record investment in the RedBird era.
Santi had scored and won a lot in Holland with Feyenoord but his first impact with a higher level league – Serie A – created a few more difficulties for him, despite his numbers in the Champions League, for example, being more than comforting (eight goals in 11 appearances).
“It’s normal to need time when you get to 23 in such a different and competitive football,” said Sergio Conceiçao, Santi’s first coach in the Rossoneri. Historically, Max has made already established and elderly centre-forwards like Tevez, Mandzukic, Higuain and Ronaldo perform very well.
With the younger number nines, however – from Morata to Vlahovic – things have gone through ups and downs. Santiago is a bit in the same situation as when Allegri first coached Alvaro and Dusan: a striker on the launch pad, but not yet at his best.
So, the former Juventus coach will evaluate him in July, then give his opinion to the Rossoneri transfer department, to understand if Milan will then have to add an alternative striker or a real starter to their squad.
Meanwhile, Tare is certainly not standing still. On Saturday evening, the new AC Milan sporting director was in Tirana to watch Albania-Serbia, a qualifying match for the next World Cup.
No, Tare did not return to his homeland for a pleasure trip or to support his national team. On the contrary, the visit was purely for work reasons. In fact, the Milan players Pavlovic and Jovic were on the pitch, but also several players that the sports director wanted to observe up close.
Two in particular: Dusan Vlahovic and Aleksandar Mitrovic, Serbian strikers who could change clubs in the summer. The duo – as well as Mateo Retegui, another name that has been talked about in recent days – would require big investments and big contracts.
At the moment, Milan are not even in the study phase of a possible negotiation for a striker. As mentioned, for now there is confidence in Gimenez and Allegri is waiting to see the Mexican up close before making a definitive statement.
What is very likely, however, is that the Diavolo will have to move in the department: Tammy Abraham will return to Roma after the loan and Luka Jovic’s deal expires (with an option). Francesco Camarda will likely be sent out on loan to gain experience.
