Raul Jimenez is poised to complete a remarkable comeback when he returns to the Wolves starting XI in their Premier League opener at Leicester on Saturday.
The Mexico forward’s life was briefly in danger when he suffered a fractured skull during a game at Arsenal last November, and there was some doubt about whether he would be able to resume his top-level career.
Yet nearly nine months after that accident, new Wolves boss Bruno Lage declared Jimenez fit to face Leicester after an encouraging pre-season. Jimenez will wear a customised protective headguard that he will carry for the rest of his career.
‘He is a top player and top man,’ said Lage, ahead of his first competitive match since replacing Nuno Espirito Santo in the summer. ‘He can play 90 minutes and he is fit and ready to go.
‘When I saw the images of injury last season it was shocking. When those kind of things happen we start to think about the meaning of life – like when Christian Eriksen [suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch] at Euro 2020.
‘But then when we see Raul training every day we forget about that.
'He wants to play and in the last five or six weeks I see him every day with a smile and great ambition to play again for the team.’
Wolves struggled without Jimenez last season and if the 30-year-old is genuinely at full tilt again, he will bring a new dimension to their attack.
Nonetheless, Wolves want to bring in at least one more forward before the window closes to join Jimenez and Fabio Silva, with Rafa Mir likely to leave while Patrick Cutrone has joined Empoli on loan. Lage also wants an athletic central midfielder, a winger and a full-back.
sucretis
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go on Jimenez, you are a great guy and a big big personality. Go on and score many goals this season, I'm rooting for u