Raul Jimenez insists he is playing to convince Wolves to make his Benfica loan permanent

Raul Jimenez says he is playing to convince Wolves they should trigger a deal to sign him for more than £30m.

The Mexico international, who bagged the fifth goal of his season-long loan from Benfica in Saturday’s 2-0 win against Bournemouth, says his future is largely out of his hands.

But he admits he is aiming to prove he is worth Wolves almost doubling their transfer record by activating an option to make his move permanent.

“I’m going to keep working and doing my job here,” said the 27-year-old, whose goal helped take Wolves up to seventh in the Premier League.

“I want people to think I am someone they want to have here. But we have to wait and see what decisions they take.

“That decision does not belong to me. I feel good here, I’m fine, but that’s the decision of other people.

“We feel amazing. We know that we have a great team to compete and we’ve done good things to be in this position. Maybe we can go up in the table.

“This season we’ve been scoring more goals in the second half so it was important for us to manage a game when we scored in the first half.”

Jimenez has four assists to add to his five goals, making him a steady, effective fans’ favourite in a side more known for its flair players.

“I thought he was outstanding,” said Conor Coady, the captain, after Jimenez and Ivan Cavaleiro scored the goals in a largely uneventful win against Bournemouth.

“He held the ball up ever so well and we know he’s going to do that for the club. He’s an incredible professional and I think that’s why he’s come in and done so well. He wants to play in the Premier League, he wants to play for Wolverhampton Wanderers and he wants to try to improve and he’s done that.

“The goals and assists he’s been involved in this year has helped massively and as long as we can keep on helping him he will keep on helping us. He’s a confident lad anyway and he’s come to this country and adapted ever so well. He’s fitted in really well with the lads because he’s a great professional and is great to have around the place. He’s got confidence in front of goal but you can see how much he’s involved, not just in front of goal but bringing players into the game with his assists and being involved in goals. He’s a great asset to have.”

Saturday brought a sixth defeat in seven games for Bournemouth, whose flying start to the season has given way to a grimmer, winter reality.

“We were better on the ball than in the last few weeks but we didn’t create enough chances,” admitted Nathan Ake, their defender.

“They were difficult to break down, they waited for mistakes and they were good on the counter-attack. This league is about points, so we can say ‘we played alright but didn’t get the points’ but you’d rather have points.

“We need to leave this one behind us. It’s a tough one to take but it’s one where we have to learn and take it into next week.”