Jimenez would be the ideal signing for United insists his Mexico boss
MEXICO boss Gerard Martino has told Raul Jimenez United could be the perfect club for him.
The Reds have been linked with a transfer bid for the Wolves striker, who has 15 goals in the Premier League this season, and his international boss could see Jimenez thriving at Old Trafford, although Juventus are keen on signing him.
United’s need for striking reinforcements has eased with the extension of Odion Ighalo’s loan and the continued development of Mason Greenwood.
But Martino believes 29-year-old Jimenez could be an ideal fit if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer does make a move.
“I cannot see a specialist No. 9 like Raul at United,” Martino said. “There are many forwards like [Marcus] Rashford, [Anthony] Martial and the boy who now plays as right-winger: [Mason] Greenwood but since Romelu Lukaku left I can’t see a pure No.9 like Raul.
“At Juventus he will have more of a fight because [Cristiano] Ronaldo shares the inside of the pitch with whoever plays alongside him, with [Paulo] Dybala or with [Gonzalo] Higuain and maybe he has a tougher fight there.”
Jimenez has scored 41 goals in 92 appearances for Wolves over the last two seasons, form which could potentially earn him a move to one of Europe’s biggest clubs again.
The Mexico international moved to Atletico Madrid from Club America in his homeland earlier in his career, but scored just once in 27 games before signing for Benfica.
But Martino believes that experience would serve the striker well if he did join a club such as United.
“We who see it from the outside always have the idea that a player has to aim for more and how good it would be for him to go to play for Manchester United,” Martino said.
“For me, that at one point in my life I was in a very big club [Barcelona], and having lived a difficult year there, I say that you have to be convinced of the step you want to take and you have to analyse it from many places.
“And he has elements to analyse it because, although he has not been at Manchester United, he was at Atletico Madrid and he was at Benfica. And he has elements to put in the balance to decide what he wants from his life.
“Maybe he wants a bigger challenge because he feels that he is in good shape and has to take advantage of it, maybe he wants to stay in this place, maybe the options you read about are not real and do not exist.”