Mexico and Wolves forward Raúl Jiménez will undergo surgery on his knee and is expected to be out until January, his Championship side said Wednesday. Due to the injury, he will be unavailable for the two legs of Mexico's upcoming Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal series against Jamaica in mid-November.
"Raul injured his left MCL against Everton, which was four weeks ago now and unfortunately the injury has not responded as we expected, so we've decided that the best thing is to have surgery to repair that ligament," said Wolves director of performance in a news release. "Normally the ligament for a fairly low-grade injury would heal on its own, however this has not responded as we were expecting. We've consulted with several knee specialists and decided the best course of action is to move to surgery to ensure that we are back in control of the time frames."
Jiménez's surgery is scheduled for Friday, with his rehabilitation expected to last three months. Sidelined since the match against Everton on Sept. 16, the 35-year-old's injury means an extended absence for both his club and the Mexican national team, which could not call him up for the recent fall international break and will not be able to bring him back for the November window.
Without their starting striker from the FIFA World Cup, Mexico went winless in the September/October break that marked the first run of games for new manager Rafael Marquez.
Source: ESPN Soccer · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing