Wolves striker Raul Jimenez is reportedly still in Julen Lopetegui’s plans at Molineux.
Back in December, it was reported that Wolves were open to letting the Mexican leave the club during the recent January transfer window.
Now that the window has closed and Jimenez has not made a move away from Molineux, some behind-the-scenes details have emerged regarding the striker’s current position in Julen Lopetegui’s squad.
According to a recent report from ESPN, a Wolves source revealed to them that the Midlands club are happy with Jimenez and that he is still a part of Lopetegui’s plans.
This season has seen the 31-year-old make 11 appearances for the Old Gold this season across all competitions, scoring three goals in the process.
Having yet to find the back of the net in the Premier League this season from six appearances, with injuries impacting his playing time, the £100k-per-week striker will need to start scoring regularly if he wants to help his side avoid getting relegated.
With Wolves having the lowest rate of goals per shot (0.04) in the league this season, this highlights the much needed attacking spark they need at that end of the pitch if they want to have a strong end to their season under Lopetegui.
Do you still have faith in Raul Jimenez?
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Even though he hasn’t scored in the league yet, the centre-forward has shown that he can still be an attacking threat as he has the highest rate of shots on target per 90 minutes (1.22) at Wolves this term.
Despite this latest behind-the-scenes claim, unless Jimenez can show how important he can be for the team in terms of being a consistent goalscorer over the next few month, we feel that the club should consider getting rid of the veteran before he enters the final year of his contract at Molineux.
Moving forward, while the player may now have a confidence boost that he is still seen as being part of Lopetegui’s plans, he’ll have to repay the faith put into him by delivering on the pitch in front of goal.