Raul Jimenez: Fulham sign Wolves and Mexico striker for £5m
- Published
Jimenez scored 57 goals during his time with Wolves
Fulham have signed Mexico striker Raul Jimenez from fellow Premier League side Wolves for a fee of about £5m.
The 32-year-old has signed a two-year deal with Fulham, with the club having the option for a third year.
Jimenez scored 57 goals in 166 games during his five seasons at Molineux following a club record £30m move from Benfica.
The Cottagers moved for Jimenez with the future of their star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic in doubt.
The Serbia international is pushing for a move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal after Fulham rejected a £25m bid.
Jimenez said: "It's really important for me to arrive here. I will try to do my best for the team, one of the most iconic teams in the Premier League.
"I'm happy to be here and to play in this stadium, it's a really good stadium, I like it here. I'm going to give my best to keep scoring goals in the Premier League."
The Mexican never rediscovered his goalscoring touch after a nine-month spell out that resulted from a fractured skull suffered in a horrific clash with Arsenal defender David Luiz in 2020.
Before then, he had scored 34 goals in 86 Premier League games for Wolves, but after then only netted six in 49 games.
His only three goals last season were in the Carabao Cup.
Jimenez becomes Fulham's first summer signing after finishing 10th last season under Marco Silva.
Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs said: "Raul has been an incredible servant to the football club, both on and off the pitch.
"Because of his goals and overall selfless performances, particularly during those first two years at the club, he'll rightly go down as one of the greatest number nines to ever represent Wolves.
"We all know what Raul went through with his injury and his journey to full recovery was an inspiration to everyone, particularly when he stepped back on the pitch for the first time - we all have the ultimate respect for Raul."
Wolves have sold several first-team players this season, including captain Ruben Neves, former skipper Conor Coady and centre-back Nathan Collins.
Financial Fair Play rules mean boss Julen Lopetegui is unable to execute even what were initially his back-up plans for the summer.
"Unfortunately, the situation was reality, it was bad news for me of course," he said earlier on Tuesday. "I'm trying in the summer; this is the plan A that we have and after that we have to adapt to the situation to the plan B, trying to think about the players that are cost effective signings in this situation.
"It is true that in this moment, we can't develop the plan B either. We lost a lot of players, and it is true that we think the club want to sell more players. This situation, we need players to balance the squad and be competitive in the Premier League for sure."
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