Fulham are reportedly prepared to make a club-record £43 million bid to bring Feyenoord’s Eredivisie-winning striker Santiago Gimenez to the Premier League in 2024.
The absence of Aleksandr Mitrovic was always likely to hit Fulham hard. And the sight of Raul Jimenez stumbling through another top-flight fixture while barely threatening a goal will have done little to quell the concerns over the make-up of Marco Silva’s frontline without their talismanic Serbian.
Jimenez, still yet to rediscover his pre-injury form after that horrific collision against Arsenal back in 2022, has not scored in nine Premier League games for the Cottagers. In fact, Marco Silva’s strikers have only one between them so far this term.
Fortunately, the struggles of newly-promoted trio Luton Town, Sheffield United and Burnley have quelled the concerns over a post-Mitrovic relegation battle but, should the opportunity arise, Silva is likely to seize the chance to add a guaranteed goalscorer to a squad crying out for one.
Fulham could break transfer record for Santiago Gimenez
Enter Santiago Gimenez.
According to Mexican publication W Deportes, Fulham are ‘offering’ a club-record fee to bring in a man who could yet replace Jimenez for both club and country. A 50 million euro deal – or £43 million, if you like – would see Fulham reinvest much of the fee earned via Mitrovic’s sale to Al-Hilal, and Gimenez’s performances since moving to the Netherlands suggest that he could be worth every penny.
The 22-year-old has 15 goals in 12 games so far this season for the reigning Dutch champions.
Fulham will not be short of competition, however, a representative speaking on behalf of Gimenez confirming last week that some of the world’s biggest footballing institutions also have the striker blinking on their radar.
“We have already discussed (Gimenez) with Atletico Madrid,” Morris Pagniello tells Tuttomercatoweb. “We talked about him with Inter, Milan, Lazio and Napoli. But, for me, he could be perfect for both Inter and Juventus. They would be the best options for him.
“I’ve been telling him for more than a year. Various clubs to believe in him. His value went from £10 million to £40 million in just under 12 months.
“Now, the teams closest to him are Real Madrid and Tottenham.”
Fulham are also keen on Stuttgart record-breaker Serhou Guirassy and Gent starlet Gift Orban.
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