Jimenez returns to action after eight months out injured
Wolves striker Raul Jimenez has made his return to action today after almost eight months on the sidelines.
Jimenez played in a pre-season friendly at Crewe this afternoon, featuring for 33 minutes.
The Mexican suffered a fractured skull after a clash of heads with David Luiz during Wolves’ 2-1 win against Arsenal last November.
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The West Midlands club struggled in their striker’s absence, and his replacement Willian Jose could not fill the boots of their main man.
Speaking in May, club captain Conor Coady said that his team failed to recover from Jimenez’s injury.
Coady said: “It’s quite obvious Raul’s affected us. It was a shocking injury and all we wanted after was his safety.
“Raul’s a world-class striker and if you lose a world-class striker from your team, it’s always going to affect you in one way or another.”
However, in a massive boost for the Wolves fanbase, Jimenez was able to feature in today’s match against Crewe before being replaced by Patrick Cutrone in a pre-planned substitution.
Birmingham Live journalist Alex Dicken discussed the Mexican’s performance and how he faired:
“For a 33-minute outing, this was everything Wolves and Jimenez would have wanted,” he said.
“Jimenez made some very clever runs throughout his comeback, as you would expect of a player most would have placed among the top centre-forwards in Europe before his injury.
“He darted in behind down the right to collect a pass and pulled the ball back to Rayan Ait-Nouri on the penalty spot, but the French youngster couldn’t get it out of his feet and the chance went.
“The Mexican’s touch was a tad rusty on occasions, which was the case for all the players in the first pre-season fixture.
“He saw lots of the ball, combined well with his teammates and climbed to win a header in the same fashion he would have 12 months ago.
“Cutrone was first stripped off and ready to replace Jimenez just after the 20th minute but Wolves’ number nine asked for 10 more minutes and the bench gave it to him.
“Jimenez was applauded by all corners of the ground as his comeback game concluded at Gresty Road.”
The 30-year-old has made 86 Premier League appearances so far in his time at Molineux, scoring 34 goals and assisting 14.
His overall play for the team can not be emphasised enough, and Wolves fans will be hoping that he can produce the same performances he did before his brutal injury.