Wolves: How long before we see the return of Raul Jimenez?
Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Raul Jimenez is making good progress on his road to recovery. How long exactly before we see the striker involved in some Premier League action again?
It has been almost a full four months since we’ve enjoyed Wolves with their most prolific striker leading the line. A fractured skull sustained back in November 2020 left the Mexican sidelined for the busy festive period and most of the beginning of 2021.
In the Wanderers 2-1 win over the Gunners at the Emirates, the visitor’s three points came at the expense of losing their most valuable player since returning to English top-flight football.
A head-on collision between the striker and defender David Luiz could be heard on contact – so loud it echos when watching the reply of the match.
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Since Wolves lost Raul Jimenez
Nuno Santo’s men has taken the field 15 times in the Premier League during the absence of their forward; losing as many as seven games, shared the points on four occasions and winning the rest, which is four. Their list of losses also includes an FA Cup exit at the hands of Southampton.
Their downfalls came against Liverpool, Aston Villa, Burnley, Manchester United, Everton, West Brom, and Crystal Palace – of these clubs, four of them are below Wolves. This displays how much they’ve missed their biggest goal-threat since the horrific accident.
Thankfully, of late, they have returned to winning ways. They are unbeaten in their last four games, winning three of these last four outings. Neto has started to lift his game, filling in the absence of the injured Raul and the departed Diogo Jota.
When will Raul Jimenez return to full action?
There is no exact given timestamp for when he will set foot on Molineux’s pitch or any other English pitch again – but what the manager is hopeful of, he will make a comeback before the season concludes in May.
As per the boss, he is making good and steady progress in his rehabilitation and is already involved in outdoor training at Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground.
Besides meeting match fitness he must also overcome the psychological aspect of his head injury. As per Birmingham Mail, the Mexican hitman is one of the most threatening in the air and relies on his head for a lot of his goals.
"Before then, though, there is a barrier that Jimenez must overcome. Eleven of his 48 goals for Wolves have been headers, putting him amongst the most prolific aerial marksmen in Europe.The 29-year-old scored five headed goals in the Premier League last season – no player managed more. In fact, only Dominic Calvert-Lewin (13), Chris Wood (12), Sadio Mane (9), Virgil van Dijk (9) and Harry Kane (9) have been more prolific with their heads than Jimenez (8) in the league during the last three seasons.Heading is a huge part of Jimenez’s make-up, so how does he overcome the psychological barrier and do it again (Via: birminghammail.co.uk)"
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They go on and further explain he is some time away from contact training and is only participating in individual training. The decision of his return is not in the manager’s hands but in the hands of the experts and the club’s doctor.