Santiago Gimenez did not join Nottingham Forest in the summer because they failed to convince him of the transfer.
That’s according to Feyenoord director of football Dennis te Kloese, via Feyenoord Pings, who has insisted they opened the door for the Mexican to make the move.
Gimenez was heavily linked with a move from Feyenoord throughout the summer transfer window as several clubs looked to sign him following his impressive spell in the Netherlands.
Ultimately it was Nottingham Forest who pushed the hardest, showing a willingness to pay what Feyenoord were asking for their star man.
A deal was eventually agreed but it was Gimenez who put a stop to proceedings, turning down the proposal and preferring to stay where he was.
It was later made clear that he was left unimpressed by the proposal from Nottingham Forest and had set his sights higher than a team who had been battling relegation from the Premier League the previous year.
He instead preferred to remain at Feyenoord for another year, fighting for the title and competing in the Champions League to boot.
That decision may look a foolish one now as Nottingham Forest sit second in the Premier League table, but Te Kloese continues to insist they have nobody to blame but themselves.
“Gimenez was able to go to Nottingham in the summer,” he told De Telegraaf’s Kick-Off podcast.
“We had given him permission to have discussions with Nottingham. And with another club too, by the way.
“But he didn’t get a very warm feeling about it either. It was brought to him, like you are an addition to the selection. It is more fun for such a boy when they say: you are the number one.
“Then he started to doubt himself a bit. I said: you are in here. In any case, always number one. And if you are top fit and start playing well again – after all, the second half of the season was a bit less – clubs will come again and we will help you with that too.”
