Arsenal, Tottenham warned devastating striker will cost record fee after price hike
Sides who are interested in Santiago Gimenez, such as Arsenal and Tottenham, have been warned the star will command a record Feyenoord sale following a price hike.
While both north London clubs are in very good positions currently, neither are blessed with a great central striker. Spurs did have one in Harry Kane – the second-highest goalscorer in Premier League history – but he left for Bayern Munich this summer.
Heung-min Son is a very good goalscorer, but his creative assets mean he’s usually deployed out wide. What’s more, Richarlison is yet to come good in a Tottenham shirt, having scored twice this season.
Arsenal, meanwhile, have Gabriel Jesus as their main central striker. While he has scored 13 goals in all competitions in just over a year since joining, he’s also been injured twice in that time.
Eddie Nketiah has led the line most often this season, but has scored just twice, and a few have posed whether he’s good enough to play up top for a title contender, Premier League record goalscorer Alan Shearer included.
As such, while Tottenham are fourth and Arsenal fifth, both sides could conceivably be better positioned if they did have an elite goalscorer in their respective ranks.
Both have their eye on one man who might come to be that: Feyenoord forward Gimenez.
Tottenham are said to be leading the charge, but the Gunners are in the mix as well.
Gimenez price rising amid phenomenal period
It was reported when Spurs first registered an interest that they were readying a bid of £34.2million. However, it never came, and that was before Gimenez hit his current purple patch.
The Feyenoord man has bagged nine goals in six Eredivisie games so far this season, with two assists to boot.
Amid his great form, it’s been suggested his price is on the rise, according to an insider.
“I wouldn’t say €20million. That’s heading towards €40-50million. There was already a lot of interest in him last summer. They are trying to make him Feyenoord’s record transfer,” he said, quoted by Voetbal4u.
Those figures equate to approximately £34million, near where Spurs were reported to be readying, to £43million.
The top end of that would smash Feyenoord’s record departure by over £20million.
Arsenal and Tottenham have tough decision
Both the Premier League sides would be able to afford that fee, though may need to move a few players on as per Financial FairPlay regulations.
In any case, they’ll both have a tough decision to make on whether or not they want to spend that fee on a 22-year-old that’s in his second good season.
Gimenez could become one of the world’s best forwards if he continues on his current upwards trajectory, but on the other hand, his rapid rise might soon stop, and he won’t be worth that fee.
Neither side would want to pay big money for him not to be able to replicate his current form.
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