In a football world filled with countless stars of today, so many of us are curious about who is waiting in the wings. That search for that next wunderkind; a youngster who has the potential to make us stand up and marvel at how they are masters of their craft. Despite their tender age, they are already embedded in the minds of millions of fans around the world.
101 Great Goals continues its weekly series surveying U21 players across the globe during the 2022-23 season. Some of them you will have no doubt heard of, while we hope to bring you a few new names to spark your curiosities every now and then.
Fact File & Overall Data Picture
- Name: Santiago Giménez
- Age: 21
- Position: Center-Forward
- Place of Birth: Buenos Aires, Argentina
- International eligibility: Mexico (declared)
- National team caps: 9 (senior national side)
- Current club: Feyenoord Rotterdam
- Current Market Value (per Transfermarkt): €9m (£8m)
- Potential suitor(s): Sevilla
Background & Overall Assessment
When it comes to football lore across North America, there are a great many who still feel that Mexico remains the preeminent superpower in the region. Though plenty of United States fans will have something to say on the matter, and a smattering of Canadian supporters will no doubt chime in on the back of their emergence in the last two years, El Tri arguably still holds the largest piece of the CONCACAF pie.
Certainly, this holds true when it comes to Mexico being able to boast the notion that one of their own not only played at Real Madrid but starred along the way when iconic figure Hugo Sánchez set Spain alight for seven seasons while helping the European powerhouse to ten major honors on the back of 208 goals scored in 283 appearances.
Pound for pound, Mexico has had the historic run of the mill when it comes to producing attacking talent in the region, with Sánchez joined by the likes of Javier Hernández, Hirving Lozano, Andrés Guardado, Jesús Corona, and Raúl Jiménez all reaching the highest competitive level in Europe. Still, other cult hero figures rose through the ranks closer to home and still remain fondly thought of; names like Borgetti, Blanco, [Luis] Hernández, Hermosillo, Borja, Alves, and García. Yet another looks set to, at the very least, rise to that same localized hero status; Santiago Giménez.
Born in Buenos Aires in 2001 during his father Christian’s (also Argentine by birth) four-year stint with South American giants Boca Juniors, Santiago would eventually begin his own journey within the academy set up with Mexican outfit Cruz Azul in 2014 during his fathers most successful career stint at the same club. After five years in the La Máquina youth ranks, Giménez made his Liga MX debut during the 2019-20 campaign, scoring two goals in twelve appearances.
Those numbers increased to six in 36 and seven in 35 across the following two seasons for the full Mexican international (2021), and a hot start to the 2022-23 campaign that saw him bag five in five would open his gateway to Europe via Dutch giants and player development experts Feyenoord Rotterdam.
Since his arrival in the vital port city, Giménez has already taken like a duck to water at De Kuip while logging over 1300 minutes of action despite not always being a guaranteed selection in Arne Slot’s preferred XI.
At the time of writing, Giménez has hit seven goals in the Eredivisie; two fewer than FC Groningen and United States starlet Ricardo Pepi, in 600 fewer minutes of action in the Dutch top flight. But where Giménez has begun to truly draw so many plaudits on the back of his domestic form in front of goal, has been due to his contributions in the Europa League, where he is currently the joint top-scorer - along with Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford - out of players remaining in the competition.
Not everyone uses their body equally well. He may not be very tall or very muscular, but he is stocky and has a low center of gravity. He uses the defender as a turntable, so you also have to have some football intelligence. For me, Giménez is perhaps the best striker on the Dutch pitches. His runs are super precise. Again with that first goal. Wait and wait until Geertruida has carried out that action and only then will he come. Because timing is everything. You have to be patient to run at the right moments.
— Keneth Pérez via ESPN's Dit Was Het Weekend broadcast
Recently billed as the best striker in the country, Giménez can be compared to compatriot Raúl Jiménez when it comes to his overall profile. Not brilliant on the ball or dynamic in terms of his ability to drive play directly, Giménez relies on his keen eye for understanding spaces around and in front of him to offer intelligent runs that will yield goalscoring opportunities.
Spending the vast majority of his time on the pitch in the center of the park or the half spaces on either side, the 21-year-old is a pure goalscorer who loves to get into the right position to offer a killing blow in front of goal; as noted by his averaging 6.94 touches in the 18-yard-box/90min.
Additionally, the Mexican international’s average of 4.13 shots/90min as well as 0.55 non-penalty goals/90min and 0.62. non-penalty xG/90min details a player who may be reliant on service, but will bag the goods efficiently and effectively should he remain connected to Feyenoord’s supply line.
It should come as no surprise that he has recently been linked with interest from La Liga outfit Sevilla, given the Andalusian’s success in recent seasons with Moroccan international Youssef En-Nesyri leading the line; a striker that Giménez can also draw some credible comparisons with.
There is no telling whether Giménez will jump at the chance to move to La Liga in the immediate future as the summer transfer window approaches, and truthfully, there are few better places for young talent to develop in a stress-free environment than the Eredivisie. But one thing is certain; Santiago Giménez will have plenty to say for both club and country in the coming years.
