Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Raul Jiménez will be a “big loss” to the side at the start of the season, following the knee injury he suffered in pre-season.
That is according to journalist Pete O’Rourke, who was giving the latest updates from Molineux, ahead of the Premier League kick-off this weekend.
The Telegraph journalist John Percy reported in July that Jiménez could be out for up to eight weeks, following a knee injury suffered in the club’s 3-0 pre-season victory over Besiktas.
The injury means that Wolves have no out-and-out striker going into this weekend’s Premier League opener at Leeds, following Fábio Silva’s loan move to Anderlecht in July.
Hwang Hee-Chan is the most experienced player in the squad at playing down the middle, but it could be either him or any one of Daniel Podence, Pedro Neto, and Morgan Gibbs-White playing centre-forward for Bruno Lage’s side, until the club sign a striker this summer.
And O’Rourke believes that the Mexican superstar will be a loss to Wolves for the first part of the season, with Lage needing somebody to step up and score goals for the club this season.
“He’s going to be a big loss in that Wolves team, and they will need somebody to step up and score the goals, because I think Jiménez and Hwang were the only two recognised strikers at the club following Fábio Silva’s departure to Anderlecht on loan.”
TIF Thoughts on O’Rourke’s comments
We agree with O’Rourke and believe that the goals will have to be sourced from somewhere other than Jiménez this season, even when he is fit and firing again, as Wolves were the lowest scoring team in the Premier League bar the relegated side’s last season.
The 93-time Mexico international and Podence ranked as Wolves’ joint top-scorers with six goals each last season, according to BBC Sport.
This suggests that Lage needs somebody in his side to at least hit double figures, to improve the club’s attacking output next season, and therefore we believe the club could do with investing in another forward this summer.