'Last thing Wolves need' - Fears over Lage rift with £30m Molineux star

Journalist Dean Jones hopes there is no rift building between Wolves manager Bruno Lage and first-choice striker Raul Jimenez, as it is the last thing the club needs.

The 30-year-old has been a regular at Molineux this season but has recently been overlooked by his boss.

Jimenez was dropped for Wolves’ last two games, coming off the bench in those defeats to Crystal Palace and West Ham.

It came as a surprise, with the Mexican having started practically every match prior to that 1-0 loss at the London Stadium.

In total, Jimenez has scored five goals in 25 league appearances this term, which is not the best of records, especially when you look at some of his previous campaigns, but there obviously needs to be some perspective following the horrific head injury he sustained.

In his absence from the starting XI, Lage has gone with Fabio Silva and Daniel Podence, but neither player was able to make the desired impact in Wolves’ two recent defeats.

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Jones is hoping Jimenez being dropped is not the sign of something serious brewing between the Mexico international and Lage.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, the transfer insider said: “Hopefully there’s no rift building there because the last thing Wolves need is issues coming across this team.”

He has to. Jimenez has obviously not been as prolific as he was back in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 campaigns, where he scored 30 league goals combined. However, he is still a much better option than Silva and Podence.

Silva is young, still developing and does not have a great record himself this season. The 19-year-old is yet to find the back of the net in any competition, though most of his appearances have come from off