CM: Long lay-off and World Cup showcase – why Gimenez’s Milan fate already seems sealed

Massimiliano Allegri confirmed that Santiago Gimenez will miss most of the rest of the season, and now his fate reportedly seems ‘sealed’.

Calciomercato.com write that a year may not be much in the career of a football player, but for Gimenez it feels like an eternity. Less than 12 months ago he was arriving from Feyenoord for €32m as the future No.9, and now he experiencing a much more negative moment.

Milan attempted to sell him last summer, and after a series of disappointing performances in the first three months and no league goals, the Mexican has completely disappeared from the radar.

A downward spiral

After a difficult five-month adjustment last season, during which he still managed to score six goals, the Mexico international was getting regular starts under Massimiliano Allegri, until his ankle wouldn’t allow him to.

On social media he announced that he had been struggling with this issue for some time. An attempt was made to resolve it with two months of conservative therapy, he returned to training with the team on December 10th, but after just nine days Gimenez decided to undergo surgery to permanently fix it.

“Gimenez will be out for 3-4 months,” Massimiliano Allegri revealed during the pre-match press conference ahead of the away game against Cagliari. He effectively confirmed that the Mexican international’s season is almost over.

Jonathan Moscrop + Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

This is yet another reason for Milan to accelerate the signing of German striker Niclas Fullkrug (on loan with an option to buy from West Ham) and to evaluate possible offers for Christopher Nkunku, who Fenerbahce want.

If Allegri’s prediction of Gimenez’s full recovery were to be confirmed, the striker would only return between April and May, at best. He would be available for the final stretch of the season and in time to be included in Mexico coach Javier Aguirre’s World Cup squad.

The feeling regarding his future at Milan is that next summer – perhaps taking advantage of the World Cup – could be the end of the road. Despite a contract running until June 2029, the Rossoneri have been working to find him a new home.

A swap deal with Roma’s Artem Dovbyk last August fell through, which showed Igli Tare was already working on offloading him. Gimenez is a player with strong demand in England and Germany, and those are the two destinations worth considering.