Football journalist James Horncastle has shared his thoughts on the possibility of Wolves striker Raul Jimenez leaving the Midlands club this summer.
This comes after Horncastle recently made an appearance on The Totally Football Show with James Richardson to reflect on the midweek European fixtures, including Wolves’ 1-0 defeat to Sevilla in the quarter-finals of the Europa League on Tuesday.
After being asked if Wolves’ exit from the competition and their lack of European football next season could result in Jimenez leaving the club this summer, Horncastle shared his views on the matter.
He said: “You look at the fee that’s been touted for him as between £40m-£50m, I think you’ve got to look at it in the context of a depressed market where clubs that would ordinarily not think twice about paying that for someone of his quality, with the uncertainty that there is around, whether crowds will be coming back and teams will be getting matchday revenue.
“Also, there’s still the prospect of a disruption from a second wave. We’ll have to see, obviously, there’s a lot of time between now and October.”
The striker signed for Wolves on a permanent basis in the 2019 summer transfer window for a fee of £34.2 million after he had spent the 2018/19 season on loan at the Midlands club from Portuguese side SL Benfica (per Transfermarkt).
The 2019/20 Premier League season saw Jimenez score 17 goals for Wolves and provide six assists for his teammates in 38 league appearances. The Mexican’s performances in those appearances earned the 29-year-old a season rating of 7.25/10, making him Wolves’ second-highest rated player for the campaign trailing only Adama Traore (per WhoScored).
In their Europa League campaign that recently came to an end against Sevilla, Jimenez earned himself a rating of 7.14/10 for his performances in the nine appearances he made for the club in the finals of the competition.
Would you accept an offer of £40m-£50m for Raul Jimenez this summer?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts…
After being recently linked with a move to Juventus or Manchester United, it would make sense that Wolves would want to keep hold of their striker due to his impressive goalscoring record throughout last season.
It will be interesting to see if any club makes an offer for Jimenez in the coming weeks and if Wolves would be willing to allow him to leave.