Raul Jimenez may finally be back as former Wolves striker produces incredible moment for Mexico

Raul Jimenez is, for many Wolves fans, the greatest striker of the club’s modern era.

The former Molineux number nine signed for the club in the summer of 2018 on an initial loan basis from Benfica.

It did not take him long to impress, and Wolves signed him up permanently in the summer of 2019 without hesitation.

Jimenez established himself as a top striker in the Premier League, with the Molineux faithful often blown away by his complete performances.

Jimenez could do it all, but his career – and life – would totally change in November 2020 when he sustained an horrific skull fracture against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

After returning, Jimenez struggled to get back to his pre-injury levels and in the summer of 2023, he left Wolves to join Fulham. He continued to search for his best level at Craven Cottage, and now, it seems like he has finally found it again.

Former Wolves star Raul Jimenez hits stunning free-kick for Mexico in USA win

This season, the Jimenez of old seems to have returned.

For Fulham, he has scored four goals in nine games across all competitions so far, and also provided one assist.

Last term, Jimenez finished with seven goals for the whole campaign, so he is looking like he will smash that tally this season.

He really is in fine fettle right now and that form continued last night as Mexico took on the USA in a friendly match.

Mexico won 2-0 and Jimenez was at the heart of the victory for El Tri. In the 21st minute, Jimenez did something he never did once for Wolves – score a direct free-kick.

And this wasn’t just an average free-kick. This was a stunning effort from all of 25 yards into the top corner.

Jimenez then played an important part in Mexico’s second goal. He had the ball in the box and lost it initially, before making a sliding tackle to turn the ball over to teammate Cesar Huerta, who finished.

Great to see Jimenez thriving again

It is brilliant to see Jimenez in such good form again, after there were so many question marks about him following that terrible injury.

At times, it did not seem like Jimenez would ever be able to get back to the levels he showed in his first couple of seasons at Molineux.

Many Wolves fans actually point back to that injury as the moment everything started to go downhill at Wolves, after a brilliant first couple of years back in the top-flight.

Adama Traore recently reflected on Jimenez’s horrendous injury, questioning what might have been had it not happened.

It has been tough for him, and many Wolves fans did not like the way his time at Molineux came to an end with Julen Lopetegui leaving him out of a number of matchday squads. Lopetegui didn’t give Jimenez any minutes against Everton in the final home game of the 2022/23 season, much to the anger of fans.

Wolves cashed in on Jimenez last summer for around £5 million in the end, and not a great deal was made about his sale given his struggles.

But he certainly looks like a player reborn now, and it’s wonderful to see him playing so well again.