I have no idea how any scout of ours OK'd buying Santi in general but especially for the price we paid
Sure he got unlucky with injuries but even when he did play he was so obviously out of his depth and even his feyenoord highlights were mostly defensive lowlights than impressive moves by him.
He's a good kid and not a horrible player but he's obviously not suited for top football. Has decent intentions and an ok shot but he's so painfully unathletic and not smart enough to play in a way that hides his weaknesses. One footed and predictable; His positioning in the box is mediocre at best; turns and runs like he's got cement boots on, yet he keeps positioning himself out wide during buildup.
With his limitations the only way he'd be useful in a high level match would be if he knew how to play with his back to the goal during buildup and stayed available in the box. Pretty much if he knew how to Giroud except he doesn't have a third of Giroud instincts/intuition, all while being a shorter stiffer slower weaker version of him
why I think our scouts greenlit this
milan were needing a man up top
they saw Santi with 5 goals in the CL that season and were up against them in an upcoming tie…
they saw a little Pippo in him with scrappy goals and believed that he would be a great CF/ST that would pull gritty goals for us
saw him in form, pulled the attacker we would face to use against his former team (and he did score the first scrappy goal against his former team)
but his form and his physique couldn’t hold up in serie a
It was a gamble that didn’t pay off
Everything you said