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Mexican forward Santiago Giménez is reportedly on the verge of completing a loan transfer to Portuguese club FC Porto, bringing an end to his disappointing spell of roughly 18 months at AC Milan.
Porto reached a verbal agreement with Milan to secure the Mexican international on loan for the 2026–27 campaign, according to Fabrizio Romano. The arrangement includes a purchase option for the Portuguese champions valued at $20.8 million (€18 million), which would become obligatory if specific conditions are fulfilled.
Giménez flew to Portugal on Sunday to finalize the loan deal, just one day after watching from the stands as AC Milan claimed their second victory of the season.
Barely 18 months after the Italian club splashed $36 million to sign him from Feyenoord in one of the most notable transfers involving a Mexican player in recent memory, the 25-year-old is heading out of San Siro through the back door.
How did everything unravel so quickly?
What Went Wrong For Giménez at AC Milan?
Giménez's departure from Milan had been building for months, with speculation about his exit dating back to the January transfer window. However, with Gonçalo Ramos arriving as Milan's record signing this summer and Ruben Amorim placing his trust in 18-year-old academy product Francesco Camarda as backup, the signs of Giménez's exit were unmistakable.
Amorim removed Giménez from first-team training sessions and stated he would only be reintegrated if a transfer failed to materialize before the window closed. "El Bebote" had his squad number taken away and was left unregistered for Serie A competition.
It became evident that Giménez no longer featured in Milan's plans and that his departure served everyone's interests. But what exactly led to his swift downfall at the Rossoneri?
A Dreadful Goal Drought
The Mexican arrived at AC Milan on Deadline Day in January 2025 after scoring 16 goals for Feyenoord in the opening half of the 2024–25 season, building on his impressive 26-goal campaign in 2023–24. He accumulated a total of 65 goals across 105 appearances throughout his time in the Netherlands.
Milan believed they were acquiring one of Europe's most exciting young forwards, and the then-23-year-old made an immediate impact, netting three goals and providing an assist in his opening five appearances for the club—etching his name into Champions League history along the way. However, that bright start proved deceptive, and his performances declined sharply from that point on.
Giménez went on to appear in 14 more games for Milan in 2024–25, managing just three goals for the remainder of the campaign. Massimiliano Allegri took charge as manager last summer, and Giménez entered the 2025–26 season as the club's first-choice striker—an ideal opportunity to establish himself in his first complete season at the club.
Yet things deteriorated rapidly for the Mexican, who featured in Milan's opening nine Serie A fixtures of the campaign—starting eight of them—without registering a single goal. His strike against Lecce in the Coppa Italia on September 23, 2025 remains his most recent goal in a Milan shirt.
With Giménez enduring the worst scoring drought of his European career, it seemed things couldn't deteriorate further. But they did.
Major Ankle Injuries
The struggling forward revealed he had been playing through ankle pain "for several months" before the discomfort became unbearable in October 2025. Initially, Giménez underwent conservative treatment and Allegri suggested he would be sidelined for around five weeks. It turned out to be five months instead.
After weeks of unsuccessful treatment, Giménez was left with no option but to go under the knife in mid-December to address the persistent ankle problem. The expectation was a return within six to eight weeks, but he didn't step back onto the pitch until late March.
Despite failing to score in the seven matches he played before the season concluded, Giménez was still included in Mexico's 2026 World Cup squad. The striker appeared short on confidence and well below his best during his four outings for El Tri that summer, and to make matters worse, he suffered another injury to his surgically repaired ankle late in Mexico's tournament-ending loss to England.
A high-ankle sprain kept him sidelined for much of the summer, preventing him from making an impression on incoming manager Amorim and fighting for his place at Milan. By the time he regained full fitness, Ramos had already been signed and the Portuguese coach had moved on from the Mexican international.
Between a torrid run of form and a series of serious injuries, Giménez will depart the storied Italian club having scored just seven goals in 37 appearances, with six of those coming in his first four months at the club.
Santiago Giménez in Desperate Need of Redemption
There is no sugarcoating it: Giménez's European future hinges entirely on his performances during his loan stint at Porto.
The Mexican will battle experienced striker and fellow former AC Milan forward André Silva for the starting center forward role, and must make an immediate impact upon joining. He will also benefit from participating in Champions League football—something that would not have been possible had he remained at Milan.
"I'm ready," Giménez said at the airport before departing for Portugal. "Excited and happy because this is a new opportunity."
Opportunities in Europe will not continue to arise if his time at Porto mirrors his stint at Milan. Should the Cruz Azul academy product fail to deliver during his loan, there is a strong possibility he joins the growing list of Mexican internationals who return to Liga MX—or MLS—after struggling to make their mark in Europe.
At Porto, however, Giménez will have every chance to recapture the form that established him as one of the Eredivisie's finest strikers not so long ago. He is far from finished; at 25, there is still ample time to turn things around and build a successful European career. Playing in the Portuguese Primeira Liga should also provide a more welcoming environment compared to the demanding Serie A.
Giménez's time at Milan was undoubtedly a failure, but that does not mean his European career cannot be salvaged. In the end, his redemption is entirely in his own hands.