Santiago Giménez chosen as the Johan Cruyff Talent of the Month for April
Santiago Giménez is one of the revelations of the Eredivisie this season. The Mexican with Argentinian roots started the season with substitutions, but worked himself into the starting line-up and has been scoring ever since. This ensured that in April, based on statistics and votes from football fans, Giménez performed best of all Eredivisie players aged 21 or younger at the start of the competition.
Scored six times in a row
After scoring in his last two Eredivisie games in March, Giménez also found the net on each of his outings in April. The Feyenoord striker's name appeared on the scoreboard in wins over Sparta Rotterdam (1-3), RKC Waalwijk (5-1), SC Cambuur (0-3) and FC Utrecht (3-1). This makes Giménez the first player since September 2019 to score in six Eredivisie matches in a row.
The Mexican international turned 22 on 18 April and is the first Feyenoord player since John Guidetti in 2011/12 to have scored more than 10 Eredivisie goals in a season (11) before his 22nd birthday. In April, besides four goals, Giménez had one assist, 13 shots, 33 ball touches in the opponents box and an expected goals value of 2.9.
In addition to the prize, the Feyenoord striker will receive a cheque for €2,500 on behalf of the VriendenLoterij (Friends Lottery) to boost social projects of the Feyenoord Foundation. His selection also raised €5,000 for Johan Cruyff Foundation's social projects.
The award was presented by ESPN presenter Milan van Dongen. You can watch his interview here
About the voting
The Eredivisie Player of the Month and Johan Cruyff Talent of the Month Awards are based on statistics (StatsPerform) and votes from football fans (KPN Man of the Match). These elements also count towards the Eredivisie Player of the Year and Johan Cruyff Talent of the Year Awards, which are presented during the Eredivisie Awards at the end of the season 2022/23.
The vote is an initiative of the Eredivisie CV in collaboration with ESPN and EA Sports. The Johan Cruyff Talent of the Month is an initiative of Eredivisie CV, in collaboration with ESPN, the Johan Cruyff Foundation and VriendenLoterij (Friends Lottery).
