What’s the story?
According to SportBild, Bayer Leverkusen are willing to listen to offers for their star forward Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez but will only sell him for a fee of £21.3m (€25m). The club has not yet received any offers for the Mexican forward but they are looking to sell him sooner rather than later.
Chelsea and Liverpool, reportedly are headed for a two-way battle in the race to sign the goal-scoring striker and could make a move in January or next summer.
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Hernandez arrived in Germany for a fee of only €11m from Manchester United in the summer of 2015. Before joining the Bundesliga side, he enjoyed one season on loan at Real Madrid but had limited success which prompted United to sell him.
He eased into the Bundesliga, plundering 33 goals in 48 matches. In his debut season, he netted 17 times and finished behind only Robert Lewandowski, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Thomas Muller on the goalscoring charts.
The heart of the matter
This season, though, his form has dipped somewhat. Hernandez has only managed to score five times in 15 league appearances but then again, the entire Leverkusen squad has failed as a whole. However, Rudi Voller, the club’s sporting director, went on to suggest that the striker needed to step up his game.
Also read: Liverpool transfer rumour: Jurgen Klopp interested in signing Jese Rodriguez on loan
SportBild also reported that there has been a fall-out between Chicharito and his teammates. The coaching staff had warned the squad about the recent dip in form just before going into the winter break. Nonetheless, the 28-year-old forward has continued to train with the squad as usual.
What next?
Only last month, Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho had said that Hernandez was one of the players from the Sir Alex Ferguson era that he would love to have in his present squad. Even the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool are keeping tabs on the striker.
It is unlikely though that Hernandez will leave in the winter. A move next summer could be on the cards.
Sportskeeda’s take
Although the Mexican will be 29 by next season, he still remains one of the best goal scorers in world football. It is likely that he will fetch a good price and with several clubs in England and Spain interested in him, the striker might get an opportunity to continue his career in Europe. A return to Mexico cannot be ruled out as well.
