Gimenez, fixed idea: take Milan to the Champions League. He wants to repay the investment immediately

Santiago Gimenez finds the net with ease: three goals in his first six appearances for the Rossoneri. Since he arrived in Milan, he has lived in the team's retreat hotel, near San Siro, but now he has almost concluded negotiations for his new home in Milan. He will soon cross that door too. Santi arrived in Italy ("Santi subito" is the slogan of the Rossoneri fans) with his wife Fernanda, an artist, who is much more active than he is on social media. From her profile, you can see how the couple is already perfectly integrated into the city and how they both move around Milan with ease. The only thing missing is speaking the language fluently, but Santiago has taken steps to remedy that: he attends an Italian course, mostly online, at least a couple of times a week, when matches and training leave him time to connect.

Gimenez is already well connected with the team: he made his debut with Milan in the Coppa Italia, providing a perfect assist to Joao Felix; in his first league match he came on against Empoli, scoring the second Rossoneri goal; he also scored in his first match as a starter at San Siro against Verona and was celebrated again in his home stadium after the lead over Feyenoord: an illusion then abruptly interrupted by the away draw and the exclusion from the Champions League. Santi was left dry only in the first leg in Holland, there disconnected and emotional, and in the last away match in Turin in the league. The average goal remains at one every 133 minutes: his predecessor in attack, Morata, was slower. One goal every 280 minutes: speaking of Alvaro, he got in touch from Turkey through an interview with Marca to say that «lately in Milan I have not felt at ease because I went there for Fonseca and after a few months the project changed». Precisely to find a more prolific centre forward than the old number 7, Milan looked to Holland and fished out Santi, who with the numbers of the first few weeks with the Rossoneri has already distanced himself from a whole other series of predecessors: from Torres to Higuain, from Destro to Mandzukic, a chain of unlucky centre forwards broken only by the arrival of Giroud in the summer of 2021.

The goals and the application speak for Santiago: the goals so far are three and there is confidence to multiply the turnover, with Gimenez who would also pocket a series of bonuses. The first at 5, the second at double figures. For him, a Rossoneri fan of proven faith since childhood, it is not a question of money but of pride and glory: even when he has not scored he has still elbowed in the area. In the group he is well liked: it is strange that he and Abraham, his replacement for the role, are often very close. Gimenez remains the first choice and for all this, for the trust and for the millions of euros that Milan invested in him in January, the striker wants to repay the club. The expense on the striker was precisely aimed at the climb in the standings that Milan needs to make, to be able to buy new champions in the summer and not have to give them away. Santiago remains sheltered from everything: he is a certainty for the present and for the future. Conceiçao is crazy about him and he is not the only one inside the club. From Santi they now expect other important goals, more than the others: in Empoli he scored the two to zero, against Feyenoord the advantage of the header was then wasted. More three-point goals are needed, like the one against Verona.

Only in this way will Milan be able to truly climb the Serie A rankings to plant their red and black flag in the top four positions. Milan needs Europe and perhaps the opposite. It is the Champions League that guarantees revenue and worldwide visibility. Even if Gimenez helps in this too: the red and black club is full of requests for accreditations and interviews from the Mexican media in particular, and South American media in general. All interested in the exploits of Gimenez's new Milan. The first is precisely the national one, that is, climbing positions in Serie A. Gimenez will be the starter in Bologna: the other attacking players may change but not him. He is chasing other goals that will give Milan back what was lost with Feyenoord, a club that took away the Champions League but gave Santiago.