Raul Jimenez Blossoming in England

Art by Louise Cobbold

Coming into the season, there were a lot of questions whether Raul Jimenez could establish himself as a starter for the newly promoted Wolves. In his 3 seasons in Portugal, Raul only had 20 league starts while coming off the bench 60 times. He never reached 1,000 league minutes in any season or had more than 7 league goals. Many expected him to flop and end up back in Mexico by the summer of 2019. Fortunately for him, he has taken advantage of his opportunity.

Through the first 20 league games, Jimenez has

19 starts

1,635 minutes played

6 goals

4 assists

Scored or assisted on 43% of all Wolves league goals

3 MOTM Awards

The Mexican striker fits in with his manager’s gameplan and that has kept him in as the lone striker in Wolves usual 3-4-3 formation. As a promoted side, Wolves are not typically favored in their games and Jimenez can find himself with stretches of not seeing the ball. However, he is all over the field looking for the ball and always willing to help out his defenders. His work rate is something that will make it hard for his manager to keep him off the field even when he is not finding himself on the scoresheet.

In his latest game, he outplayed Harry Kane as Wolves upset Tottenham. Raul has always been capable of a great performance here and there but they are becoming more frequent this season. Mexico fans should be encouraged by his play in England after a few so-so seasons with Benfica. Wolves have a buy option after the current loan ends. Considering Raul’s agent is basically running transfers for Wolves, its safe to say he should get comfortable playing there.

He is an automatic starter and contributor to a mid-table club in England with big aspirations. That might not sound glamorous but Mexico needs their players playing in top leagues and besides Champions League, England is as good as it gets.