With Jimenez on the road to recovery after fracturing his skull against Arsenal last weekend, tens of thousands of pounds have been raised by Wolves supporters to show their gratitude for what the Mexican has done for the club in the past two and a half years.
And as Nuno faced the media ahead of Sunday’s Premier League fixture with Liverpool, the head coach spoke about how Jimenez was improving in hospital, the overwhelming support the striker has received from across the footballing world, and the need to allow his number nine the time to rest and relax, while surrounded by his family and loved ones.
On Raul’s road to recovery
“He’s recovering well with his family, but we know that it’s a serious situation. He had surgery, now he’s recovering well and he’s still in observation, then soon he will be back home.
“We are not allowed to visit him, but in this moment, what Raul needs is the comfort and the love of his family.
“It’s too early and not even the moment to think about [him returning]. Now is the moment to leave the situations to the doctors and for him to be relaxed, follow the directions of the doctors and deal with the situation in the comfort of his loved ones.
“We need to let him be and recover well, back to his normal life, and then we will have time to spend together and speak.
“But we really miss him. We were worried about the situation, but now we are positive.”
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On the outpouring of support
“Raul is huge, for all the things that he’s been doing inside the football pitch, but also what he means outside of the pitch, as a teammate, and for the city.
“He means a lot and I’m not surprised with the overwhelming support that’s been happening, and it’s fair because with all the things we can say about Raul, it’s not enough.
“He’s amazing, as a player and as a person. We love him and the fans love him, rightly so.”
On the initial aftermath of the injury
“Everything goes through your mind because you see someone who you really love and appreciate in a tough situation.
“What you feel is that you are sad, you are worried, first of all, because we love Raul. We all love Raul, he means so much to us, and it’s like when a member of the family gets ill.
“It was very serious and everybody was afraid of the situation, everybody was worried, but as the days go by, hearing the positive news, knowing that he is really being taken care of, we’ve been able to return to a normal situation and dealing with it how we should do.
“Now we have to stick together, prepare well and compete, knowing that he’s going to be there for us. But our thoughts and prayers go out to Raul and we will keep giving him time to return safely to the group again.”
On getting back to ‘normal’
“Everybody saw [what happened]. Everybody on the pitch was affected by the situation, but after that, what we normally do is deal with the situation.
“We have people here in the club, ourselves as a group, we support each other and realise that can happen.
“Fortunately, Raul is ok, but this is part of the game, so the best advice we can give each other is to prepare ourselves well, knowing that in football, this situation can happen and we have to be ready for it.”
On filling the void left by Raul
“It’s a chance for all the squad, knowing that we don’t have someone who is really important for us, someone who has been within the starting 11 so many times.
“I don’t recall a game that Raul was not in the team, so it’s a chance for all of us to raise our standards and create solutions for the team.”
