Newcastle want Feyenoord’s 17-goal forward Santiago Gimenez

Add as preferred source on Google

Newcastle United have Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak both in fine goalscoring form at the moment but plans are afoot to add more goals to the team in the form of Santiago Gimenez.

According to reports from La Razon in Mexico, Newcastle are keeping a close eye on the 21-year-old after impressing in his debut season in the Netherlands.

Feyenoord took Gimenez from Cruz Azul in the summer and this term he’s bagged 17 goals in 36 appearances for the Dutch side in all competitions. Gimenez has netted five times in the Europa League this season with only Manchester United‘s Marcus Rashford bettering that tally with six.

Gimenez was warned a move to Europe could threaten his place in the Mexico squad

The report from La Razon claims that Gimenez was warned against a move to Europe, suggesting that if his form suffers his place in the Mexican national side would be under threat. Clearly they needn’t have worried as he’s having a superb season in the Eredivisie and La Razon has suggested that Gimenez’ value has doubled in just one season.

Other clubs said to be keen on Gimenez are Benfica and FC Porto so if Newcastle are looking to make a move, it won’t be without competition.

Gimenez sounds similar to Alexander Isak in terms of play style

A look on WhoScored reveals that Gimenez likes to dribble and is strong at finishing which makes him a similar player to Alexander Isak more than a target man like Callum Wilson. They also claim that offside awareness is a weakness, so we could be looking at another Papiss Cisse who was terrible at holding his run to beat the offside trap.

At just 21, there’s plenty of time for Eddie Howe to sculpt Gimenez into the finished article should we decide to move for him in the summer. In terms of priorities, I don’t think another striker is high on the list, especially not a youngster with no Premier League experience.

I’ll be filing this one in the maybe-but-doubtful drawer. If we still have some money to play with late in the window and he’s still available then we might make a move for him, otherwise I think we have other priorities first.