Feyenoord chief Dennis te Kloese has seemingly thrown cold water over reports of striker Santiago Gimenez moving to Tottenham this summer.
The Argentina-born Mexican international has been in scintillating form this term for the Eredivisie champions, with 23 goals in 44 games, turning plenty of heads across Europe.
He in fact only arrived in Rotterdam last summer, having joined from Mexican outfit Cruz Azul, but has made a brilliant start to his career in Europe.
And now he could be set for another move, this time to the Premier League and Tottenham, who his current boss Arne Slot has been heavily linked with in recent weeks.
Mail Sport exclusively reported that Slot is set to seal a switch as early as Wednesday – if his agent can negotiate a release from his contract – Gimenez has several suitors according to reports, including Newcastle and Brighton.
Santiago Gimenez starred for Feyenoord in the run-in with nine goals in his final 11 matches
Arno Slot will join Tottenham once his agent can negotiate a departure from his contract at the Dutch club
Dennis te Kloese (left) claimed that he has no indication that Gimenez will leave for Tottenham this summer
‘The great argument [for him to stay] that we have is that next year we have qualified for the Champions League directly and I don’t think there is a better challenge for a footballer than playing in the Champions League and he should take advantage of it,’ Te Kloese told Mexican outlet TV Azteca.
‘In football you never know, but for now there are no formal approaches to the club, he has a long-term contract, we have no indication that he is going to go to another club.
‘On the other hand, you have to take care of people, be close to him, since he is very clear about his goals and the path to follow. I don’t think he’s going to play for Feyenoord all his life.
‘There will be a moment when he is concerned about taking a step forward, that will happen when the time is right, and more with the experience of playing in the Champions League and more constant matches at a high competitive level, he will give more to his future.’
As the north London side plot a move for Gimenez, with Slot’s future perhaps already resolved, Te Kloese also revealed that he too had been targeted by Spurs for their vacant sporting director role, in what could be a three-pronged blow to Feyenoord.
With Tottenham out of the Champions League reckoning, and potentially missing out on Europe altogether, Gimenez would be casting aside a place in Europe’s top club competition if he made the trip to Spurs.
Despite scoring just twice in his first 13 games with Feyenoord, Gimenez exploded in prolific fashion at the tail end of the campaign.
The 22-year-old netted nine and assisted another in his final 11 Eredivisie games, as well as scoring three in four in the Dutch Cup, including an eventful 2-1 defeat to arch rivals Ajax.
Harry Kane’s future at Tottenham is far from certain and Spurs will likely target attacking reinforcements this summer
Te Kloese also lauded the player’s technical abilities although claimed he could still improve physically
And Te Kloese, who brought the player from Cruz Azul, was full of praise for Gimenez’s ability to block out everything while on the pitch and lauded his technical attributes.
‘What he has is that he does not despair, that he is not affected by an issue on the field, it does not affect his performance,’ he said. ‘He can miss one opportunity like any striker but the next he puts it in and does not stay to complain, he very quickly makes the return to things.
‘He is very agile, he has a good physique, I have always liked forwards with a left-footed profile. He is technically quite complete, he can still improve physically. He could take a leap in his physical maturity but he has opportunities to grow and is taking advantage of it.’
With Harry Kane’s future as yet undecided, Gimenez could provide a new Tottenham manager with the goalscoring abilities that the side will surely lack without the England captain, should he decide his future lies elsewhere.
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