Santiago Giménez is not expected to leave Milan before the new season, and the campaign ahead looms as a decisive one for him.
The arrival of Gonçalo Ramos has crowded the picture at centre-forward, and Giménez begins the season already on the back foot. He stayed at Milanello over the summer to recover from an ankle injury picked up during Mexico's World Cup exit to England, hardly the ideal launchpad for a striker who needs a strong start.
Last season told two stories. It opened brightly, with an assist for João Félix on his debut against Roma, a first Serie A goal against Empoli, and a Champions League strike against his former club. Then came the downturn, shaped in large part by his physical problems in a Milan shirt.
His most recent league goal came on 10 May 2025, a brace against Bologna at San Siro. From his January arrival onwards he managed 6 goals in 19 league appearances, a modest return set against what he produced in the Netherlands and for Mexico.
Injuries, ankle surgery, and a relationship with Massimiliano Allegri that never clicked all fed into a bleak first spell. With no concrete offers on the table at present, his future stays tied to Milan for now, which makes the coming months feel like a reckoning for the former Cruz Azul man.
The open question is what Ruben Amorim wants from him. The coach has already confirmed Francesco Camarda will stay at the club, which raises the prospect of the €30m signing slipping to third choice behind Ramos and the teenager. On current evidence, that scenario cannot be ruled out.
From here, the answer rests with Amorim and how he ranks his forwards once the season gets going.