Jimenez might be tempted back
[Getty Images] Si, senor? They were singing Raul Jimenez's song at Molineux on Sunday, before the striker, still revered by Wolves fans three years after his departure, even took the field. The idea has been afloat for a while that, with his Fulham contract up, he might be tempted back for a farewell tour of the Championship.
As you may have read in Wolves fan Emma Milton's piece on this page yesterday, there are more than a few Wolves fans who would like to take nostalgia-ball a good deal further than that. A Jimenez return is an appealing idea, even if we assume that, at a late stage of his career, he would have to be used in rotation. The attraction of signing him is not limited to what he would do on the field, of course.
Imagine what Mateus Mane might learn from him. A squad that has been found painfully short of leaders would immediately have a totemic figure, and the world has already heard how the supporters would be lifted by the idea. Raul no doubt heard that too, and in a brief comment afterwards said nothing to play down the notion of a return.
He is bound to have other offers, some of them probably backed by more money than Championship Wolves might be able to pay, but sentimental feelings could compensate. Who knows, and there will be ranges of opinions, but it's an idea to generate a bit of excitement. Yes, there's the World Cup to complicate further the usual tangled process of getting deals done, but at the forum last week Nathan Shi seemed clear about the importance of trying not to leave deals until the last days of the window.
Getting things moving might be more valuable than waiting for the best possible numbers this summer, not least to start repairing trust with sceptical fans. On the final day of the season against Burnley , it brings a strange moment of opportunity, to swap the wooden spoon for an extra place payment, if Wolves can win and finally climb off the bottom. It would be a weird thing to celebrate.