The Athletic’s Wolverhampton Wanderers correspondent Tim Spiers has speculated that the Old Gold could dip into the loan market in January.
During Nuno Espirito Santo’s side’s 2-1 victory over Arsenal on Sunday, Raul Jimenez picked up a serious injury following a clash with David Luiz (per BBC).
In an update from the club, it was revealed that the Mexican had suffered a fractured skull and he was ‘comfortable’ following an operation (per Wolves).
The injury to the frontman leaves the Old Gold with just 18-year-old Fabio Silva as the only fit out-and-out striker in their first-team squad (per Transfermarkt).
Wolves’ young, Portuguese attacker has made six senior appearances for the Molineux club so far this season in which he has neither scored nor assisted a goal.
So, during the latest episode of The Athletic’s The Molineux View podcast, Spiers suggested that the Old Gold could look at the loan market for a striker in January.
He said: “Obviously, they’ll get a sense of how long Jimenez is out for, of course, with the proviso that he does return to football. There’s January coming up and perhaps they’ll dip into the loan market.
“For now, I think with the three players [Adama Traore, Daniel Podence, Pedro Neto] he had behind him playing such an incredible role [against Arsenal] and linking up together so well, Silva perhaps doesn’t have to be the one that’s going to score 15 goals between now and the end of the season.
“He’s got an important role to play as a fulcrum, as a link and as a player to defend from the front, which I think he can do.”
TIF Thoughts on what Tim Spiers said about Wolves’ striker position…
As can be seen in what the journalist had to say, he suggested there is a chance that Wolves may dip into the loan market for a striker in January.
However, The Athletic reporter also aired his belief that due to the attacking potency of Traore, Podence and Neto, then Silva may be able to fill-in while Jimenez is injured.
Should Wolves sign a striker on loan in January?
No, it's not needed
Yes, I think it's needed
This season, understandably, the trio of attackers that were mentioned by Spiers have been some of the Old Gold’s most creative players.
Neto has made the most key passes in Wolves’ squad by some distance with an average of 1.8 per game and both Neto and Podence have taken he joint-second-most shots per league match in the squad with 1.8 (per WhoScored).
In terms of dribbling, Traore comfortably tops that statistic in Wolves’ squad as he has made 3.4 per Premier League match.
So, the statistics would certainly suggest that there is still plenty of attacking force in Wolves’ squad while Jimenez is out with his serious injury.