Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you have probably tinkered an eye towards Javier Hernandez’s move to West Ham United. The club from London secured the services of the highly reputed Mexican International last week in a lucrative contract. Hernandez, who is making his comeback to the Premier League, following his initial stint with Manchester United, will be keen to perform at his new club, especially after such a successful period in the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen.
In this article, we will point out the pros and cons of Hernandez’s move back to the Premier League.
Cons
Let’s start with the negatives first. West Ham have always failed to find a capable number nine in the market in recent years. Hernandez’s hefty transfer fee of £16m suggests that the Hammers are in for yet another big money gamble, whilst acquiring a poor track record.
Even though he possessed a pretty healthy scoring record in the Bundesliga, the Mexican International didn’t really manage to find his rhythm last season, scoring just 13 goals all competitions. He notably kept missing significant chances and which, eventually started to take a toll on Leverkusen’s offensive record. Ultimately die Werkself finished the season dawdling at the wrong end of the table. In addition to his poor form, Hernandez, at 29, does not offer a lot of future perspectives.
Pros
On the flip side, Javier Hernandez can actually be a great addition to West Ham. Slaven Bilic’s side always had the promise to deliver but experience was a vital factor that they were missing last season. Players like Sofiane Feghouli and Simone Zaza had loads of potential but never did they have the enough amount of experience of thriving in the top flight to go with it.
Speaking of experience, however, Javier Hernandez has that in abundance. A scoring tally of 59 goals in the Premier League and an equally strong record in the Bundesliga(39 goals). Hernandez is also a well established International level striker with Mexico too.
Moreover, Javier Hernandez’s instinctive striking abilities will make him a strong asset for the club. Similar to Andy Carroll, Hernandez is vicious in the penalty box. His predatory nature of play makes him a top notch striker. The fact that he thrived even at Real Madrid, where he had to compete with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema for game time easily marks his status as a top drawer front man.
Verdict
All things considered, Javier Hernandez is indeed an excellent acquisition for the Hammers. A fee of £16m doesn’t seem to be that expensive either, especially for a club playing in the Premier League. Hernandez brings both international and domestic experience with him while having a substantial amount of Premier League experience. Being a godly figure in his native Mexico, Hernandez will also strengthen the West Ham fan base by a significant margin as did to Leverkusen, who adopted the similar policy.
