Wolves got back on track with a stunning come-from-behind victory at Southampton this weekend, but Raul Jimenez’s post-match admission offers concerning reading.

What’s he said?

The Mexican striker was central to their comeback. He first tied things up with a 65th-minute penalty after Jonny went down under a challenge from Jack Stephens and Cedric Soares.

Jimenez then found the winner 14 minutes later, slotting home underneath the home goalkeeper after neat work from Adama Traore.

Speaking to The Athletic following his match-winning brace, the 28-year-old revealed he was rather fatigued.

He said:

“I’m tired, But we have time to rest, to recover well and we go again.”

– Raul Jimenez after Wolves’ 3-2 victory at Southampton

Burnout

It’s the first time this season that the Wolves frontman has spoken about his condition, but ultimately, it’s not a surprise to see as worrying as it is.

Jimenez has played 36 competitive matches already this season, excluding a gruelling early pre-season in China and his Gold Cup quest with his national team in the summer.

He’s barely had a break in 18 months or more. The catch 22 is, they need his goalscoring exploits, he’s now found the net 19 times in that run.

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The sale of Patrick Cutrone earlier this month has ramped up the reliance and pressure on the striker to keep on performing, and at some stage, it’s going to impact him, especially after publicly declaring that he’s “tired.”

The Athletic’s Tim Spiers references him looking ‘jaded’ in recent weeks, just like he did earlier in the season. It was only because of the international break that he was able to take a step away from the playing field to recover.

No back-up options, constant 90-minute shifts and a lack of time to rest up are all contributing factors to one of Wolves’ and Nuno Santo’s biggest fears – what would they do without him?

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It has led to the need to strengthen this month with the club expected to sign two attacking players, but only time will tell if it’s enough to give Jimenez enough support to propel their lofty plans into next season.

Nuno’s tactical switch to 3-4-1-2 which was the catalyst for the comeback on Saturday would be a long-term option, though, a viable partner to Jimenez will increase that need tenfold.

And in other news, Wolves may have to rethink their transfer strategy after suffering a devastating blow to a Nuno favourite…