Pundit Phil Egan has recently made a claim about Raul Jimenez and why Manchester United should be looking to sign the Wolverhampton Wanderers striker.
Egan was a guest on the latest episode of the OTB Football podcast recently. The panel discussed many transfer news updates from across the Premier League and European football. They also talked about Manchester United and their 2-1 loss to Sevilla in the semi-final of the Europa League. While discussing this, Egan began talking about Jimenez and why Man Utd should be looking to sign the Wolves striker.
Goals from Suso and Luuk de Jong ensured that Sevilla came back from a goal down on Sunday night to beat United, who had registered 20 attempts on goal. RTP in Portugal (via Manchester Evening News) has linked Jimenez with a move to United, with reports claiming that the Mexican ‘is on his way’ to Old Trafford, though MEN sources suggested have dismissed this link.
Despite this, Egan said that Jimenez to United is ‘a deal that could definitely get done’ and he believes that the striker would be ‘happy’ to sit on the bench at Old Trafford.
Should Man Utd sign Jimenez this summer?
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The pundit said: “I know I’ve talked about maybe the likes of Harry Kane or Jimenez. Jimenez would be a more realistic option. I think it’s a deal that could definitely get done. And obviously, you don’t have to let Jimenez take penalties because Bruno Fernandes is the best penalty taker around at the moment but yeah, he gives you that focal point. And also, they’re going to have so many games.
“You can’t rest players for the Champions League the way they could in the Europa League. Solskjaer himself was one of four [strikers]. You need quality strikers throughout the squad. Jimenez will be that kind of player if you sign him [and] if he had to sit on the bench the odd time, I’m sure he’d be happy enough to do that.”
TIF Thoughts…
Jimenez, who is valued at £36 million (as per Transfermarkt), impressed for Wolves in the 2019/20 season, as he found the back of the net 17 times in the Premier League and got six assists in 38 appearances (as per WhoScored).
It shows that he can certainly add goals to a team, but United already have plenty of attacking options such as Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood.
Meanwhile, Odion Ighalo remains on loan until January 2021. The Nigerian did well for United in the 2019/20 season, scoring three goals in the FA Cup in as many appearances. He also scored two goals in the Europa League, while playing five times in the competition.
So signing Jimenez when Ighalo leaves in January 2021 may be a better option for Solskjaer’s men.