Jose Mourinho could raid Premier League rivals Wolves and bring Raul Jimenez to Spurs – but will Man City rival them for an Ilkay Gundogan favourite?
Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Raul Jimenez has been hailed by Ilkay Gundogan with the Tottenham Hotspur target described as a ‘world-class’ centre-forward, in quotes reported by ESPN.
You won’t find many fans at Molineux who disagree with the assessment of a World Cup and Premier League winning midfielder.
Jimenez flopped at Atletico Madrid and spent pretty much his entire Benfica career stuck on the bench. But it’s fair to say the Mexican international has made up for lost time in the Midlands, scoring 39 goals in 88 games for Wolves – including 22 this season alone.
SoccerLink reports that Jose Mourinho is hoping to use his connection with super-agent Jorge Mendes to lure the £30 million striker to Tottenham over the summer, not long after Jimenez’s wonderful solo goal sealed a famous win for Wolves in North London.
And Gundogan is well placed to pass judgement on the 28-year-old, given that the Man City playmaker has shared a dressing room with some of the finest attacking talents of the modern era.
“I think he has everything a world-class striker needs,” the £25 million Germany international says. “For a striker he is so mobile, but also physically so good and talented technically on the ball. I can imagine him playing with us (at Man City).
“He reminds me a little bit of [Robert] Lewandowski because I’ve played with him (at Borussia Dortmund). In terms of style I think there is still a lot of potential.
“It’s so difficult to predict but I think [Jimenez] would get a chance in every single top-six team and there’s a good possibility he could do well.”
Jimenez, who is rated by Wolves at £80 million, could be given the opportunity to prove himself at a so-called ‘top six’ club sooner rather than later. Ironically enough, however, Wolves are actually sitting in sixth place as it stands, two places and two points above Tottenham in the Premier League table.
And while Spurs are declining fast, Wolves are only going in one direction.
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