‘A dream’ – Santiago Gimenez’s father reveals he picked Milan ‘out of seven options’

The father of Santiago Gimenez – Christian Gimenez – has confirmed that several clubs came in for his son during the summer.

Going into the most recent mercato, there was a lot of speculation about Gimenez potentially leaving Milan just a few months after arriving from Feyenoord. This intensified when the management made it clear they were pursuing another striker.

In the end, though, Santi remained at Milan. After all the transfer speculation the missed chances early were not helping his cause, and yet the hope is that the recent goal against Lecce in the Coppa Italia will be the first of many this season.

Only Milan

Santi’s dad has how spoken on the Por mis pelotas podcast about his son’s situation, given the many transfer rumours that were circulating during the summer window.

“At a certain point, there were many changes at Milan: the sporting director left, as well as the coach. The truth is that the two strikers left and Santi stayed, so yes, there were many rumours. But in the end, they thought it was best for Santi to stay. So he’s fine, he’s happy.

“A lot of things were said during the holidays and everything else, but he came back and was in good shape. Well, actually, he was already fine before the holidays, because these high-performance players don’t have to do sit-ups every day.

“A week without training doesn’t really happen. They never really stop working, they’re always active. And nothing, he’s very happy from the start. When we were in Holland, other teams were also interested in him, but when Milan came along, he said: ‘Milan.’ And that was it. ‘Milan, Milan, Milan’.

“Out of seven options, when Milan arrived it was immediately clear for him. So everything he’s experiencing there is a dream, and we’re always there for him.”

On the Coppa Italia goal against Lecce, Christian added: “It’s great news. I actually spoke to him a lot, and I wasn’t too worried about his lack of goals, because he was creating chances for himself. We also talked about it a lot with Professor Mesa, who is a sort of mentor for his career.

“Santi talks to him and me, and we often told him that he should stay calm. Because, beyond the goal, he was creating opportunities for himself, working for the team, doing what the coach asked.

“We saw everything Allegri was saying, but he was missing a goal. The truth is that he’s very happy. He’s a local guy, he gives everything he has.”