Towards the end of last season, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez found himself in manager David Moyes’ dog house. Chicharito had slid down the depth chart and was rarely used up front. Thus far in Manchester United’s preseason tour of America, new United manager Louis van Gaal has been featuring Chicharito heavily to see if the Mexican striker fits his style of play.
In the largest attended game in United States history last week, Man U defeated Real Madrid 3-1 at Michigan stadium in front of nearly 110,000 people. Chicharito scored a late in the 80th minute when he headed a Shinji Kagawa assist past Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas. While many fans cheered and praised the popular Chicharito, van Gaal was more critical:
“He scored a wonderful goal, prepared by Shinji Kagawa and also Darren Fletcher,” van Gaal told reporters after the game. “But after that he had to give the ball to Tom Cleverley, a backpass, and he gave it to Kagawa. I think he wanted to thank Kagawa for the nice pass for the goal, but at that time he needed to think about the team – it was better to play the backpass and Cleverley was inside near the goal.”
It’s unusual to see a coach so critical of his player after scoring a goal, but with Chicharito rumored to be on his way out of Old Trafford and the likes of Gareth Bale, Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie ahead of him on the depth chart, it now seems a Chicharito transfer out of Manchester United is a matter of when, not if.
Thankfully, there’s a long list of teams who would all love for the opportunity to have Chicharito in their starting XI. Manchester United is rumored to want upwards of 15 million pounds for Chicharito, and the leading candidate currently is another Premier League team, Southampton.
Southampton originally tried to sign Chicharito back in January of this year, but Manchester United changed their mind about loaning him out. The Saints would seem to be the perfect landing spot for the Mexican star; in addition to having plenty of spare cash, Chicharito is loved in England and Southampton would still not have the talent capable of competing with Manchester United.
If the Saints are unable to get Chicharito, reportedly Tottenham is another Premier League team with interest. Should United choose to ship him out of the EPL, Atletico Madrid appears to be the favorite. However, teams like Juventus, Valencia, Sevilla, Arsenal, Borussia Dormund, Olympique Marseiile, Monaco and Inter Milan are all rumored to be in the running for Chicharito.
Personally, if Chicharito has a say in the matter (and I imagine he would), Southampton and Atletico Madrid seem like the two most plausible destinations. Atletico coach, Diego Simone has been praising the play of Chicharito lately and he was recently quoted as saying:
“With Javier Hernandez and plenty of other great players, anything is possible. We can't close the door to anyone until the transfer window closes,” he said.
With Manchester United’s preseason now having come to a close with a victorious run to the Guinness International Champions Cup expect a decision on Chicharito to come any day.
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