Santiago Gimenez insight: Scouting report, stats, transfer rating and more | OneFootball

It feels like it has been a long time coming, but AC Milan have finally invested significant money in the signing of a striker, and Santiago Gimenez is the chosen one.

Gimenez arrived in Italy over the weekend after Milan finally wore down the resistance of Feyenoord and managed to agree a deal for the 23-year-old after what was over a week of intense negotiations.

Fabrizio Romano among other sources reported that the package is worth more than €35m, including bonuses. The Dutch outfit will also retain an interest in the striker’s future, with ‘an important resale clause’ also added to the deal.

Thus, Gimenez becomes the most expensive striker that Milan have signed since Krzysztof Piatek, who also came in the winter window (in 2019) and also cost around €35m. The club will hope that is where the similarities end.

Background

Santiago Gimenez was actually born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 18 April 2001 to Argentine parents. However, as a family they moved to Mexico when he was younger, hence the choice of national team.

Loving football from an early age and no doubt swept up by the passion of his new home country, Gimenez joined the youth academy of Cruz Azul (a team in Mexico’s first division) in 2014, when he was 13 years of age.

After working his way up through the ranks with Cruz Azul and after scoring 22 goals in 55 games for the U19 team in official games, he made his senior debut in a Copa MX group stage match against Tigres UANL in 2017.

It took until August 2019 for him to make his Liga MX debut against Tijuana in a 3–2 loss, and then another few months for his first goal to come. It was on 2 February 2020 that he broke the deadlock in a league match against Toluca, scoring inside two minutes.

Although he was not a huge contributor given he was still very young, Cruz Azul won their first league title in 23 years in the 2020-21 season, something that was no doubt a formative experience. The 2021-22 season is where he would really kick on, though.

In August of that year Gimenez netted in four separate league games, earning the Liga MX Player of the Month title which he then got again the next month. At the end of that season in June 2022, he scored in the Supercopa de la Liga MX against Atlas, and then netted in the shootout which won his side the cup.

On 29 July 2022, Giménez joined Feyenoord on a four-year contract and it did not take long for him to get going, netting his first goal on 27 August in a 4–0 win over FC Emmen while also providing the assist for Jacob Rasmussen to score the third goal.

On 8 September, he made his UEFA Europa League debut against Lazio. He came off the bench in the 64th minute and scored twice, then in November he again featured as a substitute against Lazio and again scored, this time the only goal in a 1–0 victory which secured top spot in the group.

Feyenoord would win the 2022–23 Eredivisie, with Giménez scoring 15 goals in 32 matches, meaning he had experienced two league titles in three seasons. He actually bagged the second goal in a 3–0 win over Go Ahead Eagles in the game that sealed it.

Gimenez started 2023-24 strongly too: on 27 August and 3 September, Giménez scored two braces, one in a 6–1 win against Almere City and the other in a 5–1 away win against Utrecht. He scored a hat-trick later that month in a 4–0 away win against hated rivals Ajax.

There was something rather curious about it though: he scored the first and second goals on 24 September and the third on 27 September. Why? The game was originally abandoned on the 24th due to crowd trouble and resumed in midweek behind closed doors. He won the Eredivisie Player of the Month award for that month.

He made his Champions League debut for Feyenoord on 25 October after serving a two-game European ban, scoring the first and third goal in a 3–1 home win over – you guessed it – Lazio. On 7 December Giménez scored his 31st Eredivisie goal in a calendar year.

He surpassed the previous record which was held by Luis Suárez who scored 30 goals in 2009 with Ajax. Later that seasn, he assisted Igor Paixão for the winner against NEC Nijmegen in the KNVB Cup final to clinch a fourteenth cup win for Feyenoord and to add another honour to his growing list.

In his second season with the Rotterdam club, Giménez made 30 league appearances and scored 23 goals (26 goals in 40 appearances across all competitions) as the team finished second in the league, trailing to PSV by seven points.

As mentioned above, Gimenez had the option of representing Argentina, his country of birth, but decided to represent Mexico after becoming a naturalised Mexican citizen. He gave the reason for it in an interview with SportMediaset.

“I was born in Argentina, my parents are Argentine, but I had to move to Mexico when I was 3 or 4 years old. My entire childhood was in Mexico, where my friends are, where my memories are, and where I started playing football. All my memories are in Mexico, and that’s why I made the decision to play for Mexico.”

In September 2020, Giménez received his first senior national team call up by Gerardo Martino, but in the same month word spread that Argentina U20 coach Fernando Batista was monitoring him and thinking about giving him a call.

Having pledged allegiance to Mexico, he made his senior debut for them in October 21 in a friendly match against Ecuador and his first goal would come for them on 8 December, in a friendly match against Chile that ended 2-2.

His first taste of international glory came on 16 July 2023, when Giménez scored the only goal in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final against Panama to help them lift the trophy. Having been snubbed from the 2022 World Cup squad, he is now immovable for El Tri.

The 2024-25 season so far has been a mixed bag of sorts. He scored twice in the Johan Cruyff Shield during a 4-4 draw against PSV Eindhoven, with Feyenoord then winning the shootout to earn a third trophy with the club.

He was then kept out for three months by a quite serious thigh injury, but returned in time for the away game against Manchester City. With the Dutch side 3–0 down, Giménez scored the second goal in a remarkable comeback to earn a 3-3 draw.

On 12 January this year, Gimenez netted a penalty in a 2–1 loss to Utrecht and it meant that he would become Mexico’s all-time top scorer in the Dutch top flight with 45 goals, taking over from Hirving Lozano’s record.

Strengths and weaknesses

To understand his style of play we can look at how he was used under Arne Slot, who managed him for 90% of his time in Feyenoord. Slot preferred a 4-2-3-1 with a high press and later a mid block in case the first line of press was breached.

His off the ball role could be a bit similar to what Sergio Conceição likes at Milan. Gimenez meanwhile is a striker who does not wander beyond the final third of pitch (which is a welcome change from Morata) and always acts as a further point of reference whenever Feyenoord want to launch a counter.

Gimenez has quite a stocky build which makes and therefore he is very difficult to shove off the ball when he holds it up to allow teammates to make off the ball runs.

Nimble, quick feet and dribbling is something Gimenez has in his arsenal that means he can surprise the defenders, break lines and beat them. He is not a No.9 that purely needs service to thrive, therefore, as he can create his own chances sometimes out of nothing.

The Mexican is also Feyenoord’s main penalty taker which gives Milan an extra advantage, given the Fiorentina game exposed a big weakness of Milan with the mutiny that ensued. It is highly likely that Santi will take over the duties from 12 yards, even if Pulisic has been reliable since.

Gimenez does come off his station during link-up play and sometimes plays between the lines, but it is not a very frequent thing for him to do.

He also has a knack for giving assists. The best part is how he looks up to find his teammates in position and then he is able to find them in goal scoring areas

Off the ball Giminez is tasked to press the player on the ball.

In this video you can see how he scans his surroundings to see where Roma players are placed and to cut off passing lanes.

When Milan signed Morata in the summer rather than going for a more glamorous name, it is probably because they presumed he would be a safe bet to get 15 goals and more importantly he would help the wingers either side flourish.

That hasn’t happened, but with Gimenez they might just have the best of both: he makes the right movements inside the box and can also bring team-mates into play as seen in his 14 assists for Feyenoord.

Another thing worth mentioning is that Gimenez has begun to develop a knack for the spectacular. He sometimes takes powerful left-footed shots to try catch goalkeepers off guard, he has great volley technique and sometimes deploys acrobatics.

Statistical comparison

Opta via fbref put Milan’s cumulative xG at 35.9 but Milan’s G-xG is at -2.92, which simply means Milan do not finish their chances. That’s where Gimenez comes into the equation.

He has an xG of 2.92 in the Champions League but he has scored five goals from it. Which means he has over-performed his xG by 2.1. Why? Simply because of shot quality.

His xGOT (Expected Goals on Target) or PSxG (Post-Shot xG) is 4.4 which means his shooting is much better than the quality of chances he gets, which in simple terms means he can turn half-chances into goals.

Alvaro Morata has been repeatedly criticised for not having that strikers instinct, because he never seemed to find himself at the end of crosses or in the right position to score.

It can be seen with their personal xG. Morata in his seven Champions League games has only a total of 1.17 xG while Gimenez has 2.92 xG from five UCL games which simply show he gets into better positions to score.

The official Champions League page puts Gimenez’s top speed at 30.6km/h, which is not the fastest. For a poacher though, his acceleration is very quick which makes it hard for defenders to catch him over short distances.

Gimenez – even though he only is 181cm tall – has won 60% of all his aerial duels while Tammy Abraham has only won 41.2% and Morata had won 58.3% of aerial duels.

Santiago Gimenez is a player who doesn’t actually touch the ball that much. In 294 minutes of Champions League action he has only taken 79 touches of which 34 were in the final third and 11 were in opposition penalty area.

What this tends to mean is that unless he has a good supportive cast he can get isolated. He still needs to perfect his touch in the box as he still in a phase of refining his game.

Patience will be needed for him to succeed especially with the difference in quality in the leagues, and the big challenge on paper at least seems like finding a way for him to thrive against deep blocks.

However, just having that goal scorer’s instinct that he does means that even half an opportunity can turn into a goal, whereas before the Rossoneri might have to create three of four big chances to score even once.

Transfer rating

If all goes to plan, Milan have got their centre-forward sorted for the next few years. It is a move that should ease the pressure on Francesco Camarda a bit, just as it looked like he would have to be ‘ready’ by the time he turns 17.

Gimenez is a player that offers some paradoxes. He is quite a traditional goal scorer, but offers some flair. He plays the No.9 role in a classic way, yet offers a modern twist that is needed for today’s game. He relies on power, with some necessary finesse.

Milan have spent over €30m which shows their belief in him, and while the hope is that he hits the ground running immediately, patience will absolutely be needed if there are initial teething issues.

It must also be said that Gimenez isn’t the guaranteed home run that Viktor Gyokeres or Alexander Isak might be, but Milan are currently unable to shop in that particular window. Thus, they probably got the best from the next window down.

Transfer rating: 7.5/10