Everyone loves a good comeback story. But before Raul Jimenez was the "Wolf of Wolverhampton" or the clinical veteran leading the line for Fulham in 2026, he was a massive question mark in the Spanish capital. To understand the Atletico Madrid Raul Jimenez era, you have to look at the sheer weight of expectation he carried across the Atlantic in 2014. It wasn't just a transfer. It was a statement. At the time, Jimenez was the most expensive Mexican player in history, with Atletico shelling out roughly €11 million to pry him away from Club América.
Diego Simeone wanted muscle. He wanted a focal point. But football doesn't always care about your price tag or your pedigree back home.
The 2014 Arrival: High Stakes and Heavy Boots
Imagine being 23 years old and walking into a dressing room that had just won La Liga and barely lost a Champions League final. That was the reality for Jimenez. He arrived on August 13, 2014, signing a six-year deal. The hype was real. Fans at the Vicente Calderon were used to world-class strikers—Torres, Aguero, Falcao, Diego Costa. Jimenez was supposed to be the next link in that golden chain.
But the transition was brutal.
The pace of Spanish football is different. Simeone’s system, Cholismo, is less about "playing" and more about suffering. If you aren't sprinting for 90 minutes or winning every aerial duel, you're invisible. Jimenez struggled to find his rhythm. Honestly, he looked like a player trying too hard to justify a fee he didn't set.
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Why the Atletico Madrid Raul Jimenez Partnership Stalled
Why did it go south? It wasn't for lack of effort. Jimenez actually made 21 appearances in the league that season, though most were as a substitute. If you look at the stats, they're kind of grim: one goal. Just one. It came in a 4-0 thumping of Sevilla in September 2014. You’d think that would be the spark, the "I’ve arrived" moment. It wasn't.
- Competition: He was fighting for minutes against Mario Mandžukić and Antoine Griezmann. Good luck with that.
- The System: Simeone’s direct, defensive-first approach didn't suit the Raul Jimenez of 2014, who was still refining his holdup play.
- Confidence: By the time the second half of the season rolled around, he was barely getting sniff of the grass.
Simeone publicly preached patience. He told the media that Jimenez was "getting close" and that fans needed to appreciate his dedication. But behind the scenes, the hierarchy was already looking elsewhere. By the summer of 2015, the writing was on the wall.
The Weird Exit and the Benfica Lifeline
The way Jimenez left Madrid was almost as dramatic as his arrival. He was supposedly on his way to West Ham on loan. Reports even surfaced that he missed his flight to London because he overslept. Imagine that—missing a Premier League move because of a nap. Whether that's true or just agent-speak remains a bit of a legend, but his agent Jorge Mendes eventually steered him toward Benfica.
It was the best thing that could have happened. Atletico sold him for about €9 million for a portion of his rights, eventually recouping most of their investment as he thrived in Portugal.
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"It was difficult at Atletico Madrid," Jimenez later admitted. "It was my first experience in Europe... but I learnt a lot there."
Looking back from 2026, we see Jimenez as this resilient, tactically intelligent striker. But that intelligence was forged in the fire of his failure in Madrid. He learned how to defend from the front. He learned that talent isn't enough in Europe; you need to be a "protagonist," as Simeone often says.
What Most People Get Wrong
People often call his time in Spain a "disaster." I’d argue it was an expensive education. Without those months of sitting on the bench and watching Griezmann's movement or Mandžukić’s physicality, Jimenez might not have become the player who dominated the Premier League years later. He won a Spanish Super Cup during his brief stay. It wasn't a total loss.
Lessons From the Jimenez Saga
If you're a scout or a fan looking at South American or Mexican talent moving to Europe, the Atletico Madrid Raul Jimenez story is the ultimate case study.
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- Context is King: A great player in Liga MX might need two years to adapt to a top-four European league. Jimenez only got one.
- Fee Fatigue: High transfer fees create a "must-start" pressure that can actually hinder a player’s development.
- The Simeone Factor: Not every striker is built for the Atleti grind. Jackson Martinez found that out later, too.
Today, Jimenez is still producing. In the 2025-2026 season, he's showing the same aerial dominance and link-up play that eventually made him a star. He just needed the right environment. Madrid wasn't it.
Actionable Insights for Following Careers Like Jimenez:
To truly track a player’s "success," look beyond the goal tally in their first season. Watch their defensive contributions and aerial win percentages. In Jimenez's case, even when he wasn't scoring for Atleti, his work rate was high. If a player is doing the dirty work but failing to score, they aren't "bad"—they're usually just out of sync with the final third. Use tools like FBref or FotMob to compare a player's xG (expected goals) to their actual output; often, a "flop" is just a player suffering from a temporary run of bad luck or poor service.