Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Raul Jimenez is set to be out of action until January after learning he needs surgery on his left knee.
The 35-year-old Mexico international has not responded as hoped to treatment for the medial collateral ligament injury he picked up in Wolves’ 1-0 Carabao Cup defeat at Everton on 16 September, a match in which he had to be substituted seven minutes before half-time. He will now undergo an operation this week.
Wolves director of performance Phil Hayward said: “Unfortunately Raul’s injury has not responded as we expected. Normally the ligament for a fairly low-grade injury would heal on its own, however this has not responded as we were expecting, and after regularly scanning for the last three weeks, the ligament is not healing in the anticipated way.”
Hayward confirmed the plan for the coming months, adding: “So, he’ll have the surgery on Friday in London, and then he’ll have around three months of rehabilitation before he’s ready to play again.”
There is better news elsewhere in the squad, with Hayward providing updates on Rodrigo Gomes, Bertrand Traore and Boubacar Traore. On Gomes, who has an ankle problem, he said: “Rodrigo Gomes is progressing well, but it’s still early days. He injured a couple of ligaments in the ankle, so it wasn’t a straightforward injury. He’s still waiting on the inflammation to settle, and then we’ll start to build him up and get him back outside as soon as that’s settled. It’s not going to be a long-term one, so he should be back reasonably quickly.”
Bertrand Traore has been dealing with a hamstring issue. “It’s a fairly small injury, however it is in a particularly problematic part of the muscle, which can commonly recur if we’re not careful,” Hayward said. “So, we have to respect that and take our time with it. But it’s not a big injury, he’s doing really well, working hard and won’t be too long.”
Boubacar Traore, meanwhile, has been out for a couple of weeks with a calf problem. “He’s back on the pitch working with the rehab coaches and doing really well,” Hayward said. “He’s progressing nicely and he’ll be back in full training in the next week or two. He’s responded really well to the treatment.”
Wolves sit ninth in the Championship table, outside the play-off places on goal difference only, and travel to Burnley on Friday evening.