Chicharito to Leverkusen? Bundesliga is better for Mexican
Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez looks to be on the move once more, but this time it could be a more permanent stay.
Rather than going on a short-term loan stint or staying on the bench with Manchester United, the Premier League club that bought the Mexican forward from Chivas in 2010 is set send Chicharito from England to Germany
Reports in both countries, from respected sports publication Kicker in Germany and The Mirror among those on the British side of things, indicate the sight of Hernandez with a Chevrolet logo splashed across his front, a Manchester United crest over his heart, is in the rear-view mirror. The forward will move from United to Bayer Leverkusen, with those same reports indicating he'll sign a three-year deal with the Bundesliga club.
Watching the forward struggle against Brugge made it clear a change of scenery is needed. In the UEFA Champions League playoff second leg in Belgium, he missed a variety of chances from open play and slipped and missed a penalty in what will make a last match to forget.
Chicharito can score goals. We see it with the national team, we saw it his first season with Manchester United and we even saw it in the Champions League last year with Real Madrid. He can't, however, wrest spots away from some of the best players in the world. There's no shame in that. When the competition is Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo or Karim Benzema, few players in the world could.
At Leverkusen, he'll find a club that needs him, and a club where he's good enough to get regular minutes. Leverkusen finished fourth in the Bundesliga last season, relying on goals from Karim Bellarbi and Son Heung-min. But Son recently completed a move to Tottenham Hotspur, while leading assist-provider Gonzalo Castro was snapped up by Borussia Dortmund. Swiss forward prospect Josip Drmic also moved away from the club during the offseason.
Just because there were departures doesn't mean Bayer's medicine cabinet is bare, though. Chicharito would benefit from Bellarbi coming down the right side along with fullbacks Wendell and Roberto Hilbert pushing up from the edges but also will have set pieces from Turkish international Hakan Calhanoglu. He may also get the support of versatile Chilean midfielder Charles Aranguiz, who will make his European debut once he returns from an Achilles tendon tear expected to keep him out several months.
Not only will Chicharito join a team that expects to be in the hunt for the Bundesliga, he joins a club where he can still get UEFA Champions League action. The draw wasn't kind to Leverkusen, but matchups against Barcelona and Roma are the kind of matches fans dream of seeing their countrymen line up in.
The move still might be criticized by some as a step down for the 27-year-old. It's not a five-star team in the FIFA video games like his previous stops at Manchester United and Real Madrid. But Chicharito's choices right now are to be stuck on the bench at a five-star team, getting minimal playing time when injuries or cup matches come along, or getting regular minutes at a four-and-a-half star club.
Regular minutes will be enough to boost his rating - within his club and with the Mexican national team where it counts.
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