Raul Jimenez urged to seal Man Utd transfer from Wolves in £90m deal by his Mexico boss Gerardo Martino this summer
RAUL JIMENEZ has been backed to join Manchester United from Wolves this summer, by his national team coach Gerardo Martino.
The Red Devils have been on fire of late, with forwards Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial all on the scoresheet in the 5-2 gubbing of AFC Bournemouth on Saturday.
But according to Mexico boss Martino, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, who have been linked with a £90million move for Jimenez, lack a classic “No9” figure.
The former Barcelona manager, 57, told : “Looking at it from the outside today I cannot see a specialist number nine like Raul at United.
“There are many forwards like Rashford, Martial and the boy who now plays as a right-winger, Greenwood, but since Romelu Lukaku left I can’t see a pure number nine like Raul.”
Jimenez, 29, has also found himself linked with Juventus, but Martino believes he might find it a little trickier competing with Cristiano Ronaldo and Co.
He continued: “At Juventus, he will have more of a fight because 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.”
Martino also believes that his national team No9 has plenty to weigh up before making his decision: “We who see it from the outside, you [the journalist] and even me, 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.
“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.
Maybe he wants a bigger challenge because he feels that he is in good shape and has to take advantage of it.
Gerardo Martino
“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.
“I think the best thing is for Raul to make the decision based on the analysis he makes and with the consensus of his family because, when it comes to enjoying, not only the player suffers and enjoy, but also the family do it.”
Jimenez has banged in 24 goals in 48 appearances for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side this term, as they have fought for Europa League glory and Champions League qualification.
And recently addressing rumours surrounding his own future, he told Telemundo: “First of all I am very happy here with the Wolves.
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“I am in a place where from the first moment we made an incredible connection.
“I am no stranger to all that [the rumours], every day a new team comes out, every day a new offer comes out, I do not know how many millions.
“It is good to know that they are talking about you, but what I have to do to make that happen is to continue doing my job here with the Wolves.”