Santiago Gimenez joins Feyenoord from Cruz Azul

Santiago Gimenez has completed the transfer from Liga MX’s Cruz Azul to Feyenoord, signing a four-year contract with the Dutch club.

He joins El Tri teammates Erick Gutierrez and Edson Alvarez in the Eredivisie.

"It’s a dream for me to play for such a big club," Giménez told Feyenoord’s official website. "I deliberately chose this step and am grateful to everyone for the warm welcome. I believe that together we can work towards something very beautiful and experience great successes."

He departs the Mexican league after a stunning start to the 2022 Apertura, seeing six goals in the first five games to lead Liga MX in tallies at the moment.

Gimenez first kicked off with Cruz Azul in 2017, debuting on August 30 in a 2-1 victory over Tigres UANL. He has since been a staple for the team, working himself up to 21 goals in 105 appearances, lifting the 2021 League trophy and 2022 Campeon de Campeones Cup along the way.

"I've been here since I was 10 years old, it's the club I love, the truth is that it makes me very sad to have to leave , but that's what dreams are like, that's what risks are, although nothing is certain, for me it's very exciting," he said to TUDN after his last game with Cruz Azul.

His club success propelled Gimenez to seven Mexican national team call ups, most recently featuring in El Tri’s 3-0 Concacaf Nations League victory over Suriname on June 11 and the 1-1 draw against Jamaica on June 14.

Gimenez remains in the running for a spot on Mexico’s 26-player World Cup roster, likely to be selected over Club America forward Henry Martin by head coach Gerardo Martino.