Time for Atletico Madrid to sell Jose Gimenez?
When Jose Maria Gimenez limped towards the Atletico Madrid bench on Saturday night, it was a familiar sight for the regulars at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano. The Uruguayan centre-back has suffered injury after injury and now looks likely to miss the Champions League quarter-final visit to Manchester City with a calf issue.
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While the 27-year-old is a special talent, his physical fragility has gotten in the way time and time again. It’s these issues that have prevented him from becoming one of the game’s best central defenders, because the talent and work ethic are there.
Since arriving in Spain’s capital from Danubio in 2013, Gimenez has suffered a total of 27 different injuries and these have kept him sidelined for an incredible 431 days, according to Transfermarkt. Of his nine years at the club, Gimenez has missed more than a year of that through physical issues, despite never having any one long-term issue. In only two of his seasons wearing red and white has he managed to reach 30 total appearances across all competitions.
When available, Gimenez has been one of the best defenders of the Simeone era, having learned his trade alongside his fellow Uruguayan Diego Godin. But, his availability issues have given El Cholo so many selection headaches over this past decade.
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Is it time for Atletico to cash in on Gimenez?
Gimenez’s injury history made it all the more puzzling that Atletico Madrid came into the 2021/22 season with just four centre-backs in the squad, especially since they’d started using a back three. With the Uruguayan having missed most of October and most of December with injuries, he’s now set to sit out most of April too.
At least the club have now signed another player who can fit into a back three by bringing in Reinildo in January. But, they need to make signing a centre-back a priority in the summer window.
It could even be time for Atletico Madrid to cash in on Gimenez, who has a contract until 2025 and who has always had admirers across Europe. There will surely be one club out there who’d stump up a significant fee for the Uruguayan and take that gamble on his availability. If such an offer is made, Atletico should consider it.
