Chelsea and Real Madrid target Gimenez's transfer value reaches record high

Yanick Vos

• Updated: 5 Feb 2024 17:10 GMT
• 4 min read

Feyenoord striker Santiago Giménez has suffered a significant dip in form since the winter break.

The Mexican striker has been scoreless in four games in a row and was substituted against AZ on Sunday, to which he reacted upset. Despite his dip in form, Giménez saw his Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) rise this month to a record high of €32.8 million.

Giménez was unstoppable in the first half of the season. With 18 goals, he entered the winter break as Eredivisie top scorer. Almost every day he was linked to the biggest clubs in Europe in domestic and foreign media.

The Mexican international is now in pretty poor form. Since the match against FC Volendam on December 7, he has only been found the net once. In the first match after the winter break he scored against NEC, but he was not on target in the four subsequent matches.

Giménez's dip in form

In recent weeks, it has become clear that he is in a slump. What Giménez showed on Sunday was pitiful. He created zero chances and had a passing accuracy of only 42 per cent. Against AZ, Arne Slot did what he previously did not do against the likes of Vitesse, PSV and FC Twente.

The coach took Giménez off the field with ten minutes left on the clock and a 1-0 lead. The striker looked deeply disappointed and walked off the field grumpy after a close victory.

Slot did not appreciate Giménez's reaction after his substitution. “If he did that, then I will at least say to him: 'Don't exaggerate like that. Yes, you played poorly, but you don't have to show it to the whole world like that.'”

According to Slot, Giménez playing poorly was also partly because Feyenoord in general did not play well against AZ. "The chances that he normally creates are created by the team. That is due to very good play and that was significantly missing today, even if it wasn't dramatic. So naturally Santi also creates fewer or no chances. He tried everything today but had very little success.”

Maarten Wijffels, reporter for Algemeen Dagblad, says in the newspaper's football podcast that Giménez "doesn't affect anything at all" at Feyenoord. "You might have to ask yourself - should we say it? - it's risky, but is it a bit of a Jörgensen story?"

Wijffels is referring to Nicolai Jörgensen, who was crucial in Feyenoord's 2017 championship. The Rotterdam team refused an offer of €22m from Newcastle United, after which the Danish striker - hamstrung by injury - never reached his old level and eventually left De Kuip through the back door. He transferred to Kasimpasa on a free transfer in the summer of 2021.

According to Wijffels, Feyenoord should be concerned about Giménez, who scored a hat-trick against Ajax in the first half of the season. “There really is nothing left,” said the journalist.

“If you see how he looked after his substitution, there really is a pathetic bunch of people there. Of course, it is possible that he'll score again and then he might be gone, but still. In such a group, players will also look at you and say, 'come on friend, we could use a little more.' The decline is really great.”

His enormous urge to score brought scouts from all over Europe to Rotterdam. Almost every top European club reportedly had him in their sights. Hugo Sánchez, former Mexican international, also visited Feyenoord and told Giménez in an interview that he should move to a top competition as soon as possible. “Well, I don't think that's possible at the moment,” says Wijffels.

Giménez's stocks still high

Although Giménez has lost his top form, he retains his high market value. According to FootballTransfers data, the striker now has an ETV of €32.8 million, an amount that is €500,000 higher than last month. Never before had the Mexican boasted such a figure.

To prevent the upward trend from turning into a downward trend, it is important for the striker to quickly get back to scoring. He may get a new chance on Wednesday evening when AZ visits De Kuip in the battle for a place in the semi-finals of the KNVB Cup.