The number 9 striker in spirit, not just in appearance. Santiago Gimenez stands just over 1.80 meters tall, but the penalty box is his ecosystem, and the goal is his oxygen. Milan started talking about him for this reason and hasn’t stopped: the Mexican with green eyes is the primary target of the transfer market. The current idea is that there’s no point in going for a rotational forward to alternate with Morata and Abraham. A starter is needed: it’s him or nothing.
The positives
Gimenez is left-footed, and that’s well-known: 72% of his shots come from his left foot. He’s a penalty-box player, skilled at moving, cutting diagonally, holding up the ball, anticipating a defender at the near post, slipping behind them, and coordinating in tight spaces.
These are typical traits of a classic center-forward, and it’s no coincidence that almost all of his shots come from inside the box. His goals are sometimes spectacular, an overhead kick this season with Feyenoord, the great “control and strike” against Bayern, but more often, they’re essential, one-touch finishes.
At Milan, this presence in the penalty area would be very useful, as would his willingness to sacrifice for the team: Gimenez recovers plenty of balls in the offensive zone.
Santiago Gimenez and Milan's Alvaro Morata
A data comparison with Morata makes it clear that these two are not alike (which was already evident…). Soccerment’s numbers reveal that Gimenez is much stronger in aerial duels, unsurprising, as he has scored many headers recently, and that he receives far more passes in behind but is less dangerous overall.
When it comes to effectiveness in the box, Gimenez comes out ahead. However, for contributions to play, such as dribbling, creativity, and assists, Morata is better. Alvaro moves much more away from the goal, leading to a logical conclusion: the two would complement each other well. They would be perfect for Sergio Conceição, who has always loved playing with two strikers, as pointed out by La Gazzetta dello Sport in this morning's print edition.
What about the negatives?
A couple of doubts remain. The first lies in a statistic: the ratio between chances and goals. Morata is criticized for his lack of finishing efficiency, but Gimenez historically has expected goals that align closely with his actual goals. He converts the chances he gets, but no more than that. The second doubt is geographical: this season, Gimenez has scored a lot (7 goals in 770 league minutes, 4 in 267 Champions League minutes), and last season even more (23 in 2,384 league minutes). However, he has done so in the Eredivisie, a league historically generous to strikers.
Pavlidis and Luuk de Jong scored 29 goals in 2023-24, Haller reached 21 in 2021-22, and Giakoumakis hit 26 in 2020-21. It works like taxes: when you cross the border, those numbers usually get cut in half.
