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Wolves ink Jimenez to big contract; Herrera to Atlético?

By Dan Chapman

Wolverhampton Wanderers' Raul Jimenez, Leander Dendoncker and Ruben Neves celebrate Manchester United's Chris Smalling (not pictured) scoring an own goal during the Premier League match at Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton. (Photo by Nick Potts/PA Images via Getty Images)
Wolverhampton Wanderers' Raul Jimenez, Leander Dendoncker and Ruben Neves celebrate Manchester United's Chris Smalling (not pictured) scoring an own goal during the Premier League match at Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton. (Photo by Nick Potts/PA Images via Getty Images) /
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Premier League club Wolverhampton signed Mexico striker Raul Jimenez to a permanent deal, while Hector Herrera will move to Atletico de Madrid.

Wolverhampton won promotion to the Premier League last spring and have forged an incredible story, almost comparable to that of former champions Leicester City. A major contributor to this fairy tale – Wolves are in 7th place – has been former America star Raul Jimenez, the team’s leading scorer with 12 goals.

Jimenez came to the club over the summer on a loan deal from Portugal’s Benfica and, on Thursday, Wolves inked the 27-year-old striker to a permanent deal through 2023. Raul’s new contract makes him the most expensive Mexican transfer ever. The contract value’s the striker at $40 million dollars.

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Over the weekend, Jimenez helped Wolves defeat Manchester United for the second straight time. Despite falling behind in the 13th minute after a goal by United youngster Scott Mctominay, Wolves did not sag in front of their home fans. It took only 12 minutes for Wolves to equalize thanks in part to Jimenez. The ball was fizzing around in the box and the Mexican striker tapped to Diogo Jota who calmly put it in the back of the net.

The Wolves went on to win the game 2-1 thanks to the combination of an Ashley Young red card in minute 57 and a Chris Smalling own goal 20 minutes later. On March 16, Wolves knocked United out of the FA Cup with another 2-1 victory with Jimenez scoring the opener.

With 12 goals and 7 assists in 32 league games, Jimenez is the best striker in the league from a club outside of the top 6. Raul also has 3 goals in Cup competitions for Wolves.

Herrera moving to Madrid

Midfielder Hector Herrera is all set to move to La Liga from Portugal’s Primeira Liga where he has starred for FC Oporto the past 6 seasons. The Pachuca product has served as team captain for Porto most of the past two season and helped the club win the league title last season.

Herrera has scored 33 goals for Los Dragones and will lead the club against Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals although he will miss the first leg due to accumulated yellow cards.

Herrera is playing out his contract with Porto so he is free to move to whichever club he prefers and rumors linked him to Inter Milan and Roma over the winter. Just this week, several media outlets reported that he will sign with Atletico Madrid where he will be under the tutelage of Diego Simeone.

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