Having joined English club Wolves on a loan deal from Benfica this past summer, Raul Jimenez has surprised fans and neutrals alike with how well he has taken to English football.
With a superb header against Everton on Saturday, Team Mexico striker Raul Jimenez scored his 9th goal of the 2018-19 season for Wolves.
For many, including many fans of El Tri, his performance in the Premier League has exceeded expectations. After a relatively disappointing spell at Benfica, many saw his move to the English Premier League with Wolverhampton Wanderers as too big a step up for him.
The EPL is one of the most grueling and difficult leagues in the world and many wondered if Jimenez had what it takes to succeed there.
Proving pundits wrong
Not only is Jimenez sitting on 9 goals – 13th most in the league – for his new club, but the 27-year-old also has 5 assists. The stats are representative of his influence in build-up play for Wolves, as well as his skill in front of goal. He is not simply a poacher nor is he just a finisher; he takes great pride in being a part of the attacking play and enjoys assisting his mates.
He has seamlessly taken to his new club and his new teammates remarkably well and his contributions are vocally appreciated by fans of the English club.
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Having scored or assisted in games against nearly all the Big 6 teams (Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City, United, Arsenal and Tottenham), it will be extremely interesting to see how far he can go. But verging on double-digit goals in early February in a debut season in is a very positive development, one that has the native of Hidalgo in the mix to be Mexican Player of the Year.
His numbers thus far have Wolves management seriously thinking about signing him to a permanent contract from Benfica over the summer.
An naturally, it is also good for El Tri to have a striker doing so well in one of the toughest leagues in the world. He can certainly make a claim to deserving the No. 1 striker position with the national team.
It’ll be exciting to sit back and watch Jimenez score some more goals for Wolves. Here’s hoping he gets well into the teens.