Raúl Jiménez missed the first two league games of this campaign with a knee injury and then made three appearances for Wolverhampton Wanderers, before another injury forced him to miss the clashes against Southampton and Manchester City.
That didn’t stop Gerardo Martino to include the 31-year-old in the Mexico squad for the scheduled international fixtures this month.
On Wednesday, the ex-Barcelona manager admitted he didn’t realise the Wolves star’s injury was ‘so serious’ and raised concerns over his return to the pitch, especially with World Cup ahead.
Esto have published comments made by the striker’s’s father, Raúl Jiménez Sr, in today’s edition of the newspaper, and his quotes will come as a welcome boost for both Bruno Lage and the Premier League side.
“I am very happy, it is already very close (the World Cup), but Raúl, despite the injury he has, is very confident that in a week he will be playing again and let’s hope because we all think that this will be Raúl’s World Cup,” Jiménez Sr said.
The frontman’s father assured Lage’s man will make himself available for selection to represent his country at Qatar.
“There is no nerve, he was doing very well in the first two preseason games, he scored a goal, he was doing well, but until this pubalgia injury appeared… everything is predicted that, in one, two weeks, he will be reinstated so that he can be the World Cup in Mexico and Raúl Jiménez,” he explained.
“All competitions are healthy, I feel that Raúl comes out of his injury and will be in the World Cup. Who will be left out? That is already Tata Martino’s decision and you will know why. Good luck and success for the other three.”
Wolves recently completed the signing of Diego Costa on a free, following a serious injury to summer signing, Saša Kalajdžić, but Jiménez’s return will give Lage options when picking his striker going forward.
