Gimenez recovers from knock but Conceicao’s pecking order stays the same

Santiago Gimenez has recovered from the knock he received against Fiorentina a couple of weeks back. However, the Mexican will have to wait for consistent playing time as Sergio Conceicao’s pecking order hasn’t changed. 

When Gimenez was signed for €32m plus bonuses in the January transfer window, everyone expected him to become the undisputed starter for Milan. However, three months later, that hasn’t turned out to be the case with multiple games on the bench lately.

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Furthermore, two weeks ago, Gimenez received a heavy knock after coming off the bench against Fiorentina and had to leave the pitch early. This allowed both Tammy Abraham and Luka Jovic to cement their spots in the team, impressing a lot in the last month or so.

While Gimenez has recovered from the knock, and thus will be available against Atalanta tomorrow, the pecking order hasn’t changed for Conceicao. Luka Jovic is set to play from the first minute, which suggests that Abraham will be the starter against Inter on Wednesday.

Gimenez, meanwhile, will have to hope for minutes off the bench to show what he can do with the red and black shirt. Of course, the plan is to focus on him for the future but with the best players needed from start right now, it makes sense to bench him.

It’s certainly a luxurious problem for Conceicao to have, as we all know how good Gimenez can be, but form is everything in football. In that sense, Abraham and Jovic are miles ahead for the time being, even if having the Mexican as an in-game solution remains a proper weapon.