Wolves are still licking their wounds after Raul Jimenez was sidelined until January with a catastrophic MCL injury, but the Mexican striker is in good spirits and has offered an update as his recuperation progresses.
Jimenez returned to Molineux as Wolves’ star acquisition ahead of the 2026/27 Championship season, with a spring in his step after leading the line for co-hosts Mexico in a goal-laden World Cup, and he had an immediate impression in the Championship.
Jimenez has had no trouble rediscovering his goalscoring touch from the Old Gold under Cesar Peixoto’s careful management, and he made an impressive start to life at Championship level before pulling up late in the first half of his side’s tame 1-0 EFL Cup third-round defeat away to Everton in September.
It has, of course, turned out to be far worse than initially expected, prompting Wolves to schedule surgery for the 35-year-old while also diagnosing at least a three-month hiatus from proceedings in a vital update released last week.
Wolves fans will be anxious to see how the Molineux goal-hero is faring during his recuperation process, as a new update has just been shared.
Raul Jimenez provides an 11-word Wolves injury update.
Jimenez has kept the Old Gold fans updated during the early stages of his return to full fitness.
Following an encouraging update on his surgery operation at the end of the previous week, another significant element has been revealed as the Mexican star continues his recovery.
Indeed, Jimenez has returned to Wolves’ Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground to speed up his recuperation, despite only describing the latest developments as “small first steps”.
Every step counts, though, as Jimenez can be seen stretching straps to keep the bulk on his muscles, marking the first serious step in his process before moving on to gym work in the coming weeks.
On Monday afternoon, the Wolves icon shared an update on Instagram: “Back to work, small first steps on the road to recovery 💪🏼😵💫😅🐺.”
Many Wolves supporters have congregated in the comments to wish the forward luck, and they will be looking for more updates as the calendar year comes to a close.
Raul Jimenez’s injury is a major setback for Wolves.
Wolves have been without a focal point in the absence of the 130-cap Mexican international, and it’s no wonder that performances have slipped significantly since his injury.
It’s fortunate, in some ways, that the immediate aftermath of his injury coincided with the three-week international break, which forced the veteran to miss friendly matches against Colombia, Peru, the United States, and Chile – and it’s perhaps telling that Mexico failed to win any of those following an impressive World Cup.
Wolves have won two and lost two of their four Championship games since Jimenez’s injury at Everton, but with the clinical frontman already scoring four goals in 350 minutes of second-tier action, his absence will be felt harshly.
Transfermarkt provides Raul Jimenez’s career data by club, including years and competitions.
Appearances, Goals, and Assists: 2011-2014, CF America: 103, 38, 16; 2014-2015.
From 2015 to 2019, Atletico Madrid won 28 games and lost two.
Benfica: 120, 31, 14.
2018-2023
Wolves (loan; made permanent)
166
57
22 2023-2026
Fulham: 115 31 6
In 2026, the Wolves have nine, three, and one.
Jimenez, who enjoyed three steady seasons and twice recorded double figures for goals across all competitions at Fulham before rejoining Wolves over the summer, proved that he still had his lethal edge in the final third by scoring three times as Mexico reached the World Cup’s final-16 stage before narrowly losing out to England, even scoring from the spot against Thomas Tuchel’s side in a showdown where El Tri were considerably stronger than their hotly-fancied opponents.
Those goal-scoring heroics have been easily transferred to the Championship, and as a result, Jimenez’s lengthy absence represents a significant challenge for Wolves, and fans are not over the fact that he received such a catastrophic injury in a cup game.
Wolves’ forwards must step up in Raul Jimenez’s absence.
Although everyone at Molineux will feel Jimenez’s pain and frustration, his absence creates an opportunity for others to step up and demonstrate their importance to Peixoto.
Indeed, given the attention that the Portuguese manager has endured ahead of tonight’s home game against Portsmouth after a shaky start to his tenure, he will be hoping that Jimenez’s deputies step it up a notch in his absence.
That is very much the case for Adam Armstrong, who has an extremely strong record at this level in previous spells with Blackburn Rovers and Southampton, but has yet to get going in the West Midlands, scoring just once in nine Championship appearances for Wolves to date.
Sean Neave, meanwhile, is likely to get plenty of opportunity to prove himself in the senior game after joining on loan from Newcastle United as Peixoto’s third-choice striker.
Jimenez’s injury and Armstrong’s erratic form, on the other hand, are likely to provide some relief to the 19-year-old, who, after catching the eye in Wolves’ 2-1 victory over Burnley with an assist for star midfielder Fer Lopez, could benefit from the situation until at least January.
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