Santiago Gimenez Joins Porto on Loan From AC Milan With Five Possible Passports and Just One Chosen

Five possible passports and just one chosen out of conviction. That, in short, is the story of Santiago Gimenez, who now faces a new chapter in Europe: he arrives at Porto on loan from AC Milan, the club that bought him from Feyenoord a little over a year ago.

"Chaquito" could, in theory, have played for Argentina, Paraguay, Italy or Ukraine. Instead he picked Mexico, the only country he has no blood tie to at all. It's worth telling why.

A Family Tree Spanning Four Countries, and a Decision Made by Heart

Santiago is the son of Christian "Chaco" Gimenez, a nickname that points back to the Argentine region where he was born and where his father's family had settled generations earlier. Santiago's grandfather was born in Paraguay, so that nation was also on the table at one point. The Gimenez surname carries Italian ancestry too, which opened the door, at least on paper, to playing for the Azzurri.

On his mother's side, the surname Zolotarchuk brings Ukrainian roots into the mix. And since Santiago was born in Buenos Aires, the possibility of wearing the albiceleste, the same shirt that was crowned world champion in Qatar 2022 while he sat outside any Mexican call up, also lingered at some point in his life.

But the real story began when Christian arrived in Veracruz in 2004 as a signing for Tiburones Rojos, part of a group of players that included Cuauhtemoc Blanco. Santiago was only three years old. Chaco would go on to shine at Pachuca and Cruz Azul, became a naturalized Mexican citizen and even traveled with the national team to Brazil 2014. His son, meanwhile, grew up falling in love not just with Cruz Azul, the club where he would make his professional debut, but with Mexican soccer as a whole.

I love Argentina, but I feel more Mexican.Santiago Gimenez

That line, spoken this year while he was recovering from an injury, sums up a stance that never wavered, not even when he was left off the Qatar 2022 squad under Gerardo Martino, an Argentine coach, at the helm of El Tri.

From Cruz Azul to Milan, by Way of Rotterdam

Gimenez made his Cruz Azul debut in the Copa MX at just 16 years old, in 2017. His breakout came in 2021, when the club snapped a 23 year drought without a league title. A year later he was already tearing up Liga MX, and Europe came calling.

At Feyenoord he became a name known worldwide: 45 goals in 73 league matches that drew interest from several big clubs. AC Milan won the race for his signature, pairing him with American Christian Pulisic to form a duo that brought together the best of CONCACAF.

He arrives at this new stage in Porto with his scoring touch somewhat dampened: he failed to score in Serie A last season, a campaign also marked by injury, and he now goes nine months without a goal. Even so, at just 25 years old, time is still on his side. He has already shown he delivers in big moments: he scored the only goal in the 2023 Gold Cup final against Panama, in Inglewood, California, the title that gave Mexico the trophy.

Today he could be wearing another jersey, or watching the 2026 World Cup from home. Instead, Chaco's son, the player with five possible nations to choose from, will keep representing Mexico, the country that captured the entire Gimenez family more than twenty years ago.