In a recent print edition, Marca has claimed that Manchester City have tabled an offer worth around €100m for Atletico Madrid defender Jose Gimenez during this summer transfer period. It is understood that the Spanish outfit are not willing to reveal any more details about Man City’s bid, but sources close to the Mancunian outfit has stated that any offer will be around €50m plus bonuses for the player (transcripted and translated by Sport Witness).
Gimenez’s Injury-Ridden Season At The Spanish Capital
Gimenez has made a name for himself at the Wanda Metropolitano after establishing himself as one of the top performers in Diego Simeone’s first XI. The Uruguayan centre-back has been involved in a total of 191 games for the Madrid outfit, netting eight goals and grabbing eight assists in various competitions.
However, the South American sensation had to endure a difficult spell in Spain recently as he missed a major bulk of the 2019-20 season because of a severe muscle injury. Gimenez participated in 27 matches for Simeone’s team in the previous campaign, securing one assist and four yellow cards across all fronts.
The 25-year-old deserves a pat on the back for being resilient despite his recent injury concerns and did well to average 1.0 tackles, 1.1 interceptions, 3.4 clearances and 3.6 long balls per 90 minutes in La Liga last season. He even distributed the ball with conviction as evident from his pass success rate of 85.7% in the top-flight of Spain (stats via whoscored).
What Will The Uruguayan International Bring To The Table?
Gimenez excels at timing his tackles to perfection that enables him to earn possession back for his team on the defensive end of the field. He tends to act quickly when dealing with the danger inside his half which explains how he pulled off over three tackles per game in the Spanish first division last season.
Standing at 1.85m, the 58-capped Uruguayan international has got the strength to overpower the opposition inside his penalty area which has made him such a dominant presence at the back for Atletico Madrid over the past few seasons.
Is Gimenez The Right Fit For The League Cup Champions This Summer?
A centre-half of Gimenez’s quality will undeniably be a brilliant acquisition for Man City if they can engineer a move to bring him to the Etihad Stadium this summer. He will enhance the quality of Pep Guardiola’s defence and could potentially form an intimidating defensive partnership with Aymeric Laporte at the north-west of England in the coming seasons.
Gimenez will also serve as a significant upgrade over John Stones and Nathan Ake at the blue half of Manchester. All in all, the La Liga star will be a great fit for the Mancunian giants as he is a brilliant ball-playing defender and could help Guardiola’s side overtake Liverpool at the summit of Premier League football in the 2020-21 campaign.
