The Wolverhampton Wanderers fans in the Transfer Tavern are hoping to see a new striker arrive at Molineux this summer, and recent reports suggest the club are edging closer to signing one from Portugal.
According to a recent report from Portuguese media outlet Record, Jorge Mendes has been leading negotiations regarding a potential loan deal for Raul Jimenez of Benfica, and so far he has made some great progress towards completing a deal. The report claims that Jimenez (valued at £9 million by Transfermarkt) will join Wolves on a loan deal initially with an option to buy for 35 million euros at the end of the season.
Although Jimenez is a player who has shown plenty of promise in the past, at 27-years-old it seems clear that he is not prolific enough to justify a transfer to the Premier League. Since joining Benfica from Atletico Madrid Jimenez has managed to score 31 goals from 120 appearances for the club, which is not a poor record by any means.
However, the standard of football in Liga Nos is considerably lower than the Premier League, so Wolves should be expecting a better goal-scoring return from a potential transfer target if they wish to hold their own in the top-flight next season.
Sure, financially a loan deal does not represent the riskiest of strategies to undertake, but it’s important that Wolves play their cards right in the transfer market in order to establish some positive momentum during the early stages of the season, otherwise they could be staring down the barrel of a relegation scrap.
Completing the signing of a prolific striker who has the ability to score 10-15 goals next season should represent something of a priority for Santo this summer, but unfortunately Jimenez does not fit the bill, so he must abandon his pursuit of the Mexico international and scout the market for alternatives in the coming weeks.
Wolves fans – thoughts? Let us know below!
