El Tri: Mexican striker exceeding expectations in England
By Dan Chapman
El Tri striker Raul Jimenez is proving to be a revelation in the English Premier League
When he moved to newly promoted English club Wolverhampton Wanderers on a loan deal from Portuguese club Benfica last summer, few could have predicted just how much of an impact El Tri striker Raul Jimenez would have.
Despite winning two league titles with Benfica, Jimenez was never able to secure a starting spot and was never able to become an important member of the squad. So it was not surprising when Benfica chose to loan him out.
What was surprising, however, was the destination that Jimenez chose: Wolves. The English Premier League is a famously difficult league at the best of times, but Wolves had just been promoted and had also brought in a large amount of new players.
For Jimenez, it was a monumentally challenging move and I thought he was really quite brave to do it.
From his very first interview by the club’s media team, in which he spoke entirely in English, it was very clear that he was determined and confident that he could perform well.
Fast forward to Saturday 29th December 2018, and Jimenez has just scored (the second goal) in a famous 3-1 win against Tottenham Hotspurs at the iconic Wembley Stadium, the site of the famous 2012 Olympic win for Mexico. Jimenez was a member of that historic gold medal-winning squad.
This goal was his 6th for Wolves and he ends the year as Wolves’ highest goal scorer. This is very impressive when you consider his goal record for Benfica, and the fact the EPL is so difficult.
The truly impressive thing about Jimenez is that he is also sitting on 4 assists and ends the year as the top assisting player for Wolves.
Raul Jimenez has been directly involved in 10 out of 23 goals for Wolves so far this season and this stat alone fully explains just how integral he is to Wolves’ squad and that he is valued by his coach Nuno Espirito Santo.
It is clear now that Jimenez simply needed the trust of a coach who would play him regularly in order to succeed in Europe.
It has been reported by various media outlets that Jimenez has a release clause of 40 million euros and that Wolves’ may well pay it. Based on his current performance stats it would be difficult for them not to.
40 Million Euros for a player who is supplying half of all your clubs goals in half a season is a no-brainer and we can only hope that Jimenez keeps up his fantastic form into 2019 perhaps even reaching 10 goals.