Raul Jimenez is a footballer reborn.
Firstly, he’s actually playing regular football, and secondly he’s an important member of his team.
Long a frustration at Benfica, the Lisbon side had been on a search to find a club to throw a big sum of money at them for the Mexican. A move to China was explored, but the player himself didn’t appear ready to take such a step, wanting to prove himself in European football.
No club was ready to part with anything like what Benfica wanted, so the loan to Wolves worked out for all involved. It’s unlikely the Premier League club would have even reached the €25m figure if the deal had been a permanent transfer, given the player’s struggles in Portugal.
Wolves paid €3m to loan Jimenez for the season and have a clause to make the deal permanent for €38m.
The New Year’s Day edition of O Jogo reports that Benfica are counting on that, plus €10m from Luka Jovic, who is on loan at Eintracht Frankfurt, to bring in €48m next summer.
There’s confidence in Portugal that Wolves will use the option.
