3 hours ago
3
Santiago Gimenez has had a rollercoaster last few weeks, but he hopes that it has taken an upturn when it matters most.
Gimenez found himself at the centre of a media storm towards the end of the summer mercato, and not one of his own creation. Igli Tare’s bizarre comments before the Lecce game – one the Mexican started – only fuelled talk of an exchange with Artem Dovbyk that never ended up materialising.
In the end Gimenez remains, and his father spoke to ClaroSports about the final days of the window. His revelations suggested some disagreements, and even hinted that Massimiliano Allegri had to step in to stop his son being sold or swapped.
“At first, we heard a lot of things. Then, on Friday, when Santiago started, we heard the statements of Milan’s sporting director, and we began to understand what was really going on. We didn’t know what was going on: he was a starter, but they wanted to sell him,” he said.
“The truth is, it was all very confusing. It’s very rare for a sporting director to make those statements. Santi’s agent has always been in contact with the club. The club had the opportunity to make that swap, but Santi was never consulted on the situation.”
The problem is that the transparency of the situation made one thing clear: Santiago Gimenez was not wanted at Milan, at least by a portion of the management. That in itself is a difficult set of circumstances under which to try and gain some confidence.
Allegri’s obligation
Fly back across the Atlantic with confidence he will, though. In the final minute of added time in Mexico’s friendly against South Korea in the early hours of Wednesday morning (European time), Gimenez provided a brilliant moment.
The former Feyenoord man picked up the ball on the edge of the box with the score 2-1 to South Korea, cut in and curled a beautiful left-footed shot inside the far post. It is the kind of goal that will give him a huge boost, and one he can hopefully recreate many times for Milan.
What situation will Gimenez encounter when he returns? Despite being on paper potentially the fourth choice out of a forward group that includes Rafael Leao, Christopher Pulisic and Christopher Nkunku, he might just be the first name on the team sheet.
Leao and Nkunku are still training individually and Pulisic again racked up a lot of minutes with the United States, so while he should start the game, Gimenez seems like the most obvious choice to lead an attack that there were doubts he would even be a part of.
It is no secret that Allegri wanted a centre-forward with different characteristics to either complement or replace the Mexican. Dusan Vlahovic was linked, Victor Boniface arrived for a medical and Conrad Harder was another name in the orbit.
Now, though, he must make virtue of necessity. The fact Gimenez has in fact started the first two league games and came on as a 17th-minute substitute in the Coppa Italia match against Bari only serves to highlight his importance.
From Bologna to Bologna
Against Bologna – barring any surprises that are unlikely at this point – Santiago Gimenez will once again lead the line alongside Pulisic . This unusual pairing hasn’t produced great results so far, although it’s worth remembering that Santi has had two goals disallowed so far.
Gimenez’s only brace for Milan came in the last league match against Vincenzo Italiano’s Bologna. It was May 9th, and a few days later the Coppa Italia final would take place, which the Rossoneri ultimately lost at the Stadio Olimpico.
Despite having scored a brace in the Serie A contest, Gimenez was dropped to the bench for the showpiece game in the capital. The result was zero goals scored, and Luka Jovic even missed a huge chance earlier in the game. Now, a new chance presents itself.
We go back to the words from Christian Gimenez, who understands the game of football and its dynamics better than most given that he too had a career in the game.
“We need to stay calm. What happened should strengthen him, it should touch Santi’s pride after all this. Milan are an important club and demands a lot from you. […] I’m reassured not only by what I see on the pitch, but also by what I see off it. It will all depend on Santi.” Over to you, Bebote.
English (US) ·