Newcastle United had been interested in signing lethal striker last year who has continued his impressive from into the current season.
With Newcastle looking to add to their attack in the summer, Feyenoord’s Santiago Gimenez could be an ideal option given his age and number of goals he’s scored in the last couple of years.
However, former Ajax man Rafael van de Vaart has given Newcastle a warning after speaking on Gimenez to Studio Voetbal where he urged the Dutch side to ‘get rid’ of him at the earliest opportunity.
Newcastle told to avoid 21-goal striker
Gimenez has really been enjoying his time at Feyenoord where he has linked up well with Newcastle loanee Yankuba Minteh this season, managing to score 21 goals in 24 Eredivisie games.
His great form will have naturally attracted a lot of interest, and the fact he is still only 22-years-old suggests he still has a lot of room to grow, but Newcastle may now have to think twice about making a move.
Van de Vaart has just hasn’t been very impressed with the striker despite the number of goals he’s scoring and suggested that a fee of around £17m should be enough to force Feyenoord to sell.
That would be a perfectly affordable price to pay for Newcastle who are hoping to have a decent sized budget this summer, but they may have changed their mind on the Mexican international.
On Gimenez, Van de Vaart said: “We have already discussed that Feyenoord will lose many players. Many players who are in the spotlight.
“I have a lot of doubts (about Gimenez). I once said that he took away my doubts when he was really good. But even after this goal (vs Heracles) I didn’t think he played very well.
“If someone offers 20 or 25 million euros, then you really have to get rid of him. If someone wants to pay a lot of money for him, do it (the deal) immediately.”
The Magpies still in search of their next star striker
In the current market it’s very difficult to find a decent striker for an affordable price, but that’s the challenge Newcastle are going to have with the very likely departure of Callum Wilson this summer.
It’s obvious that they cannot go the whole season with Alexander Isak as their only striking option, so they need to find him a solid backup who is an experienced goalscorer but also won’t be demanding too much playing time.
With Newcastle’s ambitions of returning back to the Champions League next season it’s imperative that they get this move right, especially if Isak’s injury troubles continue into the new campaign.
Ideally the new man would also be a young up-and-coming striker who is looking to develop his talents at a top Premier League side, but whether or not that is Gimenez remains to be seen.
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