Raúl Jiménez was at Wolverhampton Wanderers for five years before leaving them for Fulham in July 2023.
Atlético Madrid brought the Mexico international to Europe for the first time, when they signed him from Club América in 2014. A year later, the La Liga side sold him to Benfica.
Wolves initially signed the striker on loan from the Portuguese club in 2018 and made his stay permanent a year later.
The 33-year-old has been speaking to Mexico’s Claro Sports and one segment has been dedicated to his time in Europe. He struggled during his time in Madrid, which led to the transfer to Benfica.
Jiménez managed 31 goals and 14 assists from 120 matches for the Portuguese club. His record at Wolves was better, with 57 goals and 23 assists from 166 matches.
When reviewing his decade in Europe, the attacker said he enjoyed his football the most at Wolves.
“Well, it’s not easy at all, nobody gives you anything. You know you have to come, and break stones many times,” he said.
“That’s what costs the most. For example, I already had a place in América, I was a starter, I played everything. Then I made the leap to a more competitive league like the Spanish one, in a team like Atlético, in which I perhaps did not have the participation that I would have liked.
“I don’t know if it was very green. A new experience in European football, everything comes together.
“It was my first solo experience too. I don’t know, maybe I was too young. The way things are now, at 23 it’s already like you’re old. So, I don’t know, it’s not how I would have liked it, but I didn’t give up.”
“I looked for another opportunity. At Benfica it got better, but well, that’s as far as it went. My best moment was at Wolves.”
The current Fulham frontman fractured his skull while in action for Wolves in November 2020. that forced him to miss the rest of the 2020/21 season. When he regained full fitness, Bruno Lage was appointed as manager at Molineux.
Jiménez opened up about the support he received from Lage at Wolves.
“In fact, I remember that the doctors, the physios, told Bruno Lage at that time, who had just arrived at the club, that at the beginning I didn’t go defensively in corners, that he shouldn’t put me in areas where there could be contact, that I should rather be outside the area or something like that,” Jiménez explained.
“And so, from day one he put me in. He asked me how I felt, and I told him I was fine. And in the same area where the accident happened, it was my turn to defend, and I didn’t have any major problems.”
