Jimenez adds to impressive scoring tally for Wolves
By Dan Chapman
The Mexican striker added yet another goal and an assist to his Premier League tally as Wolves won again.
Raul Jimenez continues to impress fans of the Wolverhampton Wolves. Pundits and analysts agree that the America Aguilas product is one of the Premier League’s top performers this season.
Jimenez reinforced those beliefs on Saturday at home against Cardiff City, assisting on his team’s opening goal in minute 16 and scoring himself just 2 minutes later. The 2-0 win has Wolves in 7th place, just behind Chelsea in the standings.
Since arriving at the Wolverhampton club last summer on a loan deal from Portuguese giants Benfica, Jimenez has impressed coaches, teammates and fans with his effort and his quality on the pitch.
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After the Cardiff City game, Jimenez now has 11 goals and 6 assists for his club, more than double any other Wolves’ player. Since then, 888 Sport and Unibet tweeted that no player outside of the top six clubs has scored more goals than Jimenez has.
Few pundits expected Jimenez to perform this well in one of the toughest leagues in the world. Analysts who follow Mexican soccer and Mexican players abroad would have been hesitant to predict he would be doing so well.
But that tends to overlook his career productivity. While never being a prolific goal-scorer, the 27-year-old Jimenez has put the ball in the net wherever he has been. In fact, his goal on Saturday at Molineux Stadium was the 100th of his professional career.
Wolves fans have really taken to their new striker; many of them praised him on social media after their weekend win. Surely the first task for Wolves management over the summer is to purchase him outright from Benfica.
With only 9 league games remaining, the benchmark of 20 goals in a debut season in a new country is unlikely. However, his performance has put him squarely in the conversation for top striker with El Tri. He has certainly overtaken Javier Hernandez, and will almost surely be a primary option up front for Mexico at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
For now though, let’s sit back and enjoy Jimenez’ stellar debut campaign in England and hope he continues to prove he can be one of the best strikers in the Premier League.