West Ham are reportedly considering a move to bring Javier Hernandez back to England and are prepared to meet the player’s £13 million release clause.
According to a report by The Mirror, West Ham are looking to bring Mexican striker Javier Hernandez – better known as Chicharito – back to the Premier League. The Bayer Leverkusen striker is believed to be open to a move and the Hammers are keen on seizing the opportunity by activating the £13 million release clause in his contract.
West Ham are understood to have closely monitored Hernandez at the Confederations Cup in Russia. Hernandez has an excellent record for Mexico with 48 goals in 94 games and has bagged 39 strikes in 76 appearances for Leverkusen.
The Hammers are keen on signing two quality strikers this summer for manager Slaven Bilic and Hernandez has been identified as one such target. The club can take advantage of the fact that Leverkusen might need to offload a player or two since they missed out on European qualification for next season.
Hernandez joined Manchester United back in 2010 from Guadalajara in his native land and spent four illustrious years at Old Trafford wherein he came to be known as the ‘Super Sub’. On several occasions the Mexican striker came on as a substitute in the second half for United and changed the course of the match with a goal or two.
However, he was then sent away to Real Madrid on loan after which United sold him to Bayer Leverkusen in 2015 after having netted 59 goals in 157 appearances for the Red Devils.
Hernandez still has one year left on his deal at the Bay Arena and if the German club fails to sell him this summer or extend his contract, they will risk losing him for nothing in the upcoming year.
Chicharito did receive regular game time with the German club when compared to Manchester United and has flourished in front of the goal.
A prospect like Hernandez seems like the need of the hour for West Ham as they are desperately looking for a proven goal-scorer to join their ranks this summer. So far, no strong deal has worked out for Bilic’s squad even though they were strongly linked to sign Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud.
Arsene Wenger is understandably disappointed with Giroud’s lack of impact in front of goal and even Giroud is believed to be unhappy at the club since he wants to clock regular playing time. Hence, West Ham can benefit from the tension if they are able to match Arsenal’s asking price.
Having said that, pursuing deals for both Hernandez and Giroud might strain their finances. Bagging a deal for Chicharito might be the best option since the former Manchester United striker has already proven his quality and is generally a more agile striker than Giroud, something Bilic would love to have at his disposal.
