‘Congratulations,’ the text read, ‘you’ve just signed the Mexican Brian McBride’. My friend – an El Tri tragic – knew what he was writing. Not because he was messaging a Fulham fan, but because McBride’s insatiable desire to make the most of his talent had impressed him. The legendary forward had memorably scored the opener in Jeonju as the United States sprung a surprise in the World Cup second round meeting in 2002, but Javier had long since let bygones rest – especially after marvelling at McBride’s bravery in the 2006 Wolrd Cup when he was elbowed in the face by Daniele de Rossi and continued without complaint despite blood going everywhere.

Where McBride recovered from serious injury to fire Fulham to safety in the Great Escape under Roy Hodgson, Raul Jiménez’s experience after seeing his skull fractured by David Luiz at Arsenal might have been enough to finish his footballing career. His doctors told Raul that he might never play again, but there was no convincing him. Most centre forwards are inherently selfish, but Jimenez has never been playing for himself. He takes great pride in representing Mexico, but the country’s seven-highest goalscorer of all-time, with thirty in a century of senior appearances, is probably best described as the titan of Tepeji.

Tepeji is a tough former mining town slap bang in the middle of Mexico. They are football crazy and the town’s finest export is talked about with genuine pride. They are proud of their favourite son and have even considered renaming the amateur football league after Jiménez. He is a role model for the next generation, whose work ethic is second to none, and somebody who didn’t lose heart when his big money moves, to Atletico Madrid – where he was lined up to replace Diego Costa – and Benfica, for whom he fuliflled the role of super-sub.

Some things are more important than football and even the horrible head injury that shocked the world of football had a portent from the past. The young striker celebrated a goal by hanging off a cement post that his friends had used as a goal frame and the structure came crashing down, leaving Jiménez concussed and losing vast amounts of blood by the second. He still has a remainder of that injury as there is a small scar on the right side of his face. Those closest to the striker suggest the fact that he has no memory of this incident helped me in the aftermath of that worrying episode at the Emirates, something he couldn’t recall either.

A young Jiménez, who quickly gained a reputation for being a prolific goalscorer in junior football, has had to deal with expectations from a young age. He was tipped to become a star from his first days in the Club América youth set-up, but his first successes came for his country. Jimenez was a surprise call-up to Luis Fernando Tena’s squad of under-23s for the prodigious Toulon Tournament, but repaid his coach’s faith with the crucial third in a stunning 4-2 upset of the Netherlands in the semi-finals. Mexico beat Turkey 3-0 in the final, with Jimenez creating the opening goal.

Those performances were enough to earn him a spot in the squad for the London Olympics. He was used as a substitute throughout the tournament, but his contribution in the final as El Tri stunned Brazil to win their first international trophy is still talked about today. There is a shot of Jiménez embracing former Fulham full-back Carlos Salcido as the left back bites his gold medal in disbelief ‘to make sure it is real’. The striker says that London has always had a special place in his heart since then – and it helped persuade him to leave Wolves this summer.

The confidence gained from success on the international stage seemed to inspire Jiménez to a new level. He became a regular in the América side following the departure of Vicente Matias Vuoso and was handed the number nine shirt. He scored four goals in sixteen games as América reached the semi-finals of the Apertura. His breakthrough came in the Clausura, where his brilliant braces against Atlante, Querétaro and Guadalajara ensured América qualified for the knockout stages with ease. He scored a vital away goal in the quarter-final first leg at Pumas UNAM, before scoring a penalty and creating the second for Christian Benitez as América won a tight semi-final to set up a final clash with Cruz Azul. The two sides couldn’t be separated after two legs and Jimenez demonstrated his impeccable composure by scoring a penalty in the decisive shoot-out as América caused a serious shock.

He graduated to the senior side, scoring his first goal against Canada in Seattle during the Gold Cup and following it up with the winner against Canada in the quarter final. Jiménez then wrote himself into national folklore with a stunning bicycle kick, later voted the CONCACAF Goal of the Year, in the must-win World Cup qualifier against Panama at the Azteca – his first goal at international level at the temple of Mexican football. A year later the striker was plucked from América, where he had hit 38 goals in 108 appearances, to become Costa’s replacement at Atletico Madrid in a deal worth £10m. But he struggled to make an impact in Spain as Diego Simeone had also bought Antoine Griezmann and Mario Mandzukic and Jimenez was relegated to the bench. He scored only once in a deeply frustrating campaign but credits that year with making him a better player:

“It was difficult because it was the first time I was living alone but I think I adapted quickly to a new life. I learned that I had to be patient and I had work hard even if the opportunities were not there. I just had to keep working to find them.”

Jiménez moved to Benfica the following summer, making an immediate impression by scoring twelve goals in 45 appearances, including in the Champions’ League quarter-final where the Eagles were edged out by Bayern Munich. He was utilised again mostly as a substitute but scored eighteen goals and added eleven assists in eighty appearances whilst understudying Jonas as Benfica won back-to-back titles before Nuno Espirito Santo signed him to spearhead the Wolves attack ahead of their first Premier League season in six years.

The Mexican had something of a slow start at Molineux, scoring just twice in his first ten games, but demonstrated the creative side of his game by setting up goals for Joao Mountinho at Old Trafford and Matt Doherty at Crystal Palace before Nuno’s shift his 3-4-3 system to a 3-5-2 saw the toast of Tepeji come to life. He forged a fantastic partnership with Diogo Jota, scoring in a famous win at Stamford Bridge and netting fourteen more times in thirty games, including in the FA Cup semi-final against Watford at Wembley.

His thirteen top flight goals represented the best top flight return from a Wolves player in a decade, but he bettered that in a stellar 2019/2020, scoring seventeen games and striking up a telepathic understanding with Adama Traore. He twice teed up the Spaniard during a stunning win at Manchester City and then went on to register a goal or assist in nine of his next eleven league fixtures, including one of each as Nuno’s men shocked Liverpool at Molineux. But Jiménez’s experience of continental football proved invaluable in Wolves’ first European campaign since the 1980s as he scored ten goals in seventeen games, including the winner at Olympiacos, as Wanderers reached the quarter finals.

Even Covid couldn’t stall the Mexican’s momentum – that cruelly happened at the Emirates on 29 November 2020 – when the world held its breath after Jiménez was knocked out cold when marking Luiz at a corner. The swift actions of the medical staff on hand at the Emirates meant the stellar striker suffered a fractured skill rather than what everybody feared, but the ramifications of that serious injury for a footballer were bad enough. Many feared he would have to give up the game he loved but within a month Jimenez was smiling at the training ground and he returned after six months of closely-monitored progress to lead the line for new manager Bruno Lage at the start of 2021/22. The scenes that greeted his goal, when he raced onto a punt from Jose Sa, to score at Southampton live long in the memory.

He battled a succession of injuries in the remainder of that season, scoring four more times, and then was largely limited to the cup competitions as Wolves turned to Julen Lopetegui to dig them out of relegation trouble. He might have struggled for game time in the second half of the season, but the home fans brought tears to Jiménez’s eyes following the final game of last season with a rousing rendition of a song that lauds him as ‘the best in the world’. As the tribute on Wolves’ website that followed the announcement of his move to Craven Cottage, put it:

“The best in the world, he comes from Mexico” sang the Molineux terraces. During Raul’s first 28 months in gold and black, they could not have been more on the money.

For 20 years the golden palace had been crying out for a legendary centre-forward who would help take Wolves to new heights, and they certainly found that in Jiménez.”

My friend Javier meant that McBride comparison as a compliment. The American was not only a scourge of the Mexicans throughout his international career, but bounced back from adversity and serious head injuries of his own to become a star in Europe. McBride was 31 when Chris Coleman bought him from MLS to replace Louis Saha. The brave Arlington Heights native quickly won the affection of the Hammersmith End with whole-hearted displays that tested the finest top flight defenders before returning from a dislocated knee-cap to lead the Whites to still scarcely believable Great Escape in 2008.

Much has been made of Jiménez’s age and his lack of goals under Lopetugei. But the Mexican sensation is a mere six months older than McBride when he came to London and has a point to prove. The football-mad town of Tepeji will make their early morning pilgrimage to the pubs and clubs that open early to follow their hero’s progress in the Premier League. Next month they’ll be wearing the white of the oldest time in London. As ever, Raúl will be raring to go.