A transoceanic message from Gimenez
Santiago Gimenez, on the night between Saturday and Sunday, scored for his Mexico side in Salt Lake City. A headed goal, pure opportunism, to remind Milan as well that the 6 goals in 19 matches do not do justice to his qualities as a striker. It was only a friendly, but the SMS from Santi inflating Switzerland’s net will have reached Massimiliano Allegri too. Max doesn’t know him yet. He has never coached him, nor has he ever faced him as an opponent. The two will shake hands at Milanello for the first time in July, when the adventure of the new Milan will begin. And from that point on, Bebote will have to prove to Allegri that he deserves the status of starting center-forward, beyond the transfer rumors already circulating in the media and on social networks.
Categories...
When speaking about players, Allegri has always used the metaphor of categories. And in which category is Gimenez today? Milan paid €28.5 million for him, a record investment of the RedBird era. In the Netherlands with Feyenoord, Santi scored and won a lot. But the first impact with a higher-level league — Serie A, to be exact — created a few more difficulties for him, even though his numbers in the Champions League, for example, are more than encouraging (8 goals in 11 appearances). “It’s normal to need time when you arrive at age 23 in such a different and competitive football,” said Sergio Conceição, Santi’s first coach in red and black. Historically, Max has gotten great performances from already established and older center-forwards like Tevez, Mandzukic, Higuain, and Ronaldo.
With young “number nines,” instead, from Morata to Vlahovic, things have gone in fits and starts. Santiago is in somewhat the same situation as when Allegri first coached Alvaro and Dusan: a striker on the launchpad, but not yet at the top. Thus, the coach from Livorno will assess him in July, and then give his opinion to the Rossoneri's transfer department, to understand whether Milan will then need to add an alternative striker or a true starter to the squad.
AC Milan's Igli Tare is on the move
In the meantime, Igli Tare is certainly not standing still. On Saturday night, the new Rossoneri sporting director was in Tirana to attend Albania-Serbia, a qualifying match for the next World Cup. No, Tare did not return to his homeland for a pleasure trip or to support his national team. On the contrary, the visit was purely for work-related reasons. On the pitch, in fact, were the Milan players Strahinja Pavlovic and Luka Jovic, but also several players that the sporting director wanted to observe closely. Two in particular: Dusan Vlahovic and Aleksandar Mitrovic, Serbian forwards who could change clubs this summer.
Who is AC Milan targeting?
Let’s take it easy. The market is long, we are still at the dawn, and the two aforementioned — as well as Mateo Retegui, another name that has been making the rounds in recent days — would require exceptional investments, between transfer fees and multi-million euro wages. At the moment, Milan is not even in the evaluation phase of a possible deal for a forward. As mentioned, for now there is trust in Gimenez, and Allegri is waiting to see the Mexican up close before giving a definitive opinion. What is very likely, however, is that the club will have to move in the attacking department: Tammy Abraham will return to Roma after his loan; Luka Jovic, for whom the Rossoneri have an option to extend his contract by one year if exercised by June 20, would like more playing time, and as of now, we are closer to a farewell than a stay; Francesco Camarda, class of 2008, will likely be sent out to gain experience.
Source: Gazzetta dello Sport
