Rafa Mir's Breakthrough at Huesca

Since suffering a horrific collision with David Luiz on November 29, Raúl Jiménez has been out of action for Wolves and his long-term absence has deprived Nuno Espírito Santo of their number-one goal threat and a deadly presence in the box. Nuno has turned to Willian José, who has failed to find the back of the net in 11 appearances since joining on loan from Real Sociedad, whilst he has also opted to play Daniel Podence, a 5'5" winger, at false 9 on occasion.

Teenage striker Fábio Silva has managed just 5 goals in 29 appearances since arriving from Porto for a club-record fee of £35 million, and while he did grab an impressive goal in a 2-3 defeat to West Ham, he is clearly a few years away, at the very least, from coming close to matching Jiménez's impact and ability. To put it simply, Wolves are toothless without the Mexican international, as they currently sit 14th in the Premier League. Only Burnley, Fulham, West Brom and Sheffield United have scored fewer goals than them this season (30).

Whilst Wolves continue to struggle in the final third, there is one striker who can't seem to stop scoring in his loan spell away from Molineux. It isn't Patrick Cutrone, who is currently undergoing his second loan move since joining for £16 million from Milan in 2019. It isn't Léo Bonatini, who helped fire Wolves to promotion after joining from Al-Hilal. It isn't Leonardo Campana, who arrived to plenty of excitement following an impressive performance in the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Instead, it is Rafael "Rafa" Mir Vicente, who has provided 13 goals and 1 assist in 30 appearances for Huesca this season.

Born in Murcia, Spain, Mir began his career playing futsal with CD Javalí Nuevo, eventually making the transition to full football after a 120-goal spell with ElPozo Murcia. He would carry over his goalscoring feats to the grass pitch, providing 57 goals and 84 goals in two straight seasons for Ranero CF, 32 goals for Barcelona's La Masia academy, and 45 goals for Real Murcia. Soon enough, Valencia was hot on his radar, and elected to bring him to the academy in 2012.