Talking Wolves presenter Dave Azzopardi has labelled the situation regarding Raúl Jiménez’s absence from the Wolves setup as “an absolute farce”.
Azzopardi was speaking on the latest Talking Wolves podcast ahead of this weekend’s Premier League action.
After pulling out of the matchday squad for the 1-0 victory over Southampton, Jiménez has not been part of the squad since, with an update issued at the end of September suggesting that the striker was recovering from an ongoing groin issue.
The 31-year-old had been in Mexico undergoing a rehabilitation plan, but it was reported by the Express & Star’s Liam Keen last week that the striker was set to return to the country last Friday to continue his recovery at Wolves’ training ground in the hope he can link up with the Mexico squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
But Azzopardi has been left frustrated at the communication over Jiménez’s injury, and the slim chances of him playing for Wolves before the World Cup.
He said: “Obviously, he’s been in Mexico for the last number of weeks, completed his rehab over there, for what reason? I don’t know.
“Wolves are apparently keeping tabs on him, or got medical people over there keeping tabs on him.
“And then he was due to fly back to England last Friday, I think.
“Weirdly, the Mexican national team put a tweet out about him training there, which they quickly deleted, and then somebody in Mexico said basically he was coming back to Wolves just to check him over and see if everything’s alright, and then let him go to Spain next week where the Mexico national team are going to be.
“If that happens, that is an absolute farce.
“If he’s fit and okay, he should be with Wolves until after the Arsenal game.”
TIF Thoughts on Azzopardi’s comments…
We agree with Azzopardi and are unsure as to why Wolves are not insistent on Jiménez getting fit with the West Midlands club for the last few Premier League fixtures before the World Cup.
With Diego Costa receiving a red card at Brentford last weekend, the club are now facing the prospect of three games without a striker, with Saša Kalajdžic out for the season and Fábio Silva enjoying a loan spell at Anderlecht.
It seems short-sighted for the club to let the 96-time Mexico international focus on his recovery in his homeland for the World Cup when there is a crisis of centre-forwards ongoing at the club and the team in the Premier League relegation zone with just two games left until the mid-season break.
Therefore, we have to agree with Azzopardi and think that the situation has been incredibly poorly handled by the decision-makers at Wolves.