West Ham's Javier Hernandez admits asking for January transfer but vows to give everything now he is staying
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Straight-talking Javier ­Hernandez has no qualms about putting the record straight.
Yes, he did ask to leave West Ham last month.
Yes, he did consider offers from rival Premier League clubs.
Stuck on the bench with a place in Mexico’s World Cup squad this summer at stake, the former Manchester United striker feared he had little option.
West Ham’s no-nonsense fans — no strangers to calling it as they see it — will surely appreciate his disarming honesty.
Yet how quickly things change.
(Image: Carl Fox)
(Image: Carl Fox)
Denied an exit because of injury to Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho’s ­departure to Rennes, Hernandez is determined to give his all for David Moyes on the run-in to help keep the club away from the drop zone.
“Yes, it was the case that I wanted to go,” said the 29-year-old, who only joined the Hammers in the summer. “Not because I don’t like West Ham, but because I need to have minutes on the pitch.
“The World Cup is just around the corner and I want to play. But you can see that, even though my agent says I want to go, I have been doing everything I can in a West Ham shirt to help the team.
(Image: Carl Fox)
“Against Bournemouth I scored a goal, I tried to play pretty well in the Cup [going the full 90 minutes in their loss at Wigan last weekend] and, in the last game, against Crystal Palace, I tried to do my best.
“I am a very ­professional guy and I want to do that.
“Words can come and go. Your acts are going to speak for themselves. Now that the window is closed I am here and trying to achieve the main goals for the club, which is to be safe from relegation. Then, in the summer, we will see.”
(Image: Action Images via Reuters)
Hernandez is settled in ­London.
“How can I not be?” he said, before Saturday's relegation six-pointer away to Brighton. “Guadalajara, my home city, is one of the biggest in Mexico. I have always been in big cities.
“I feel good with the fans. I think they are happy with me. They have treated me very well since the beginning. But I want to be better. I want to deliver for them.”
Were there offers from rival clubs in England?
“In the Premier League, yes.”
Was he interested?
“I was ­interested, yes. In one.”
(Image: Reuters)
The man nicknamed ­Chicharito – Little Pea – won’t ­elaborate, and is more focused on addressing the fears of worried Hammers fans.
“Obviously, they are concerned,” he said. “But what I see in the dressing room, what I feel, is that we want to be better. We all try to work very hard. We all want more points, more good results, to be higher in the table.
“We want to make the fans happier and we are trying. We are working hard and the season is not over yet.”
Hernandez spoke after training with new £10million striker Jordan Hugill, signed on Wednesday from Championship side Preston.
(Image: Getty)
“He is a very good football player,” he said. “He is confident and I understand his feelings. He has come to a Premier League club, so he is ambitious. He is very happy. He has transmitted that and, hopefully, can have a good career.”
Though he left Old Trafford in summer 2014, initially on loan, Hernandez continues to follow former club Man United’s progress.
“One of my best friends in football is David De Gea,” he said. “United was my first European club. We won two titles and almost won the Champions League. We had good moments.
“I want them to have good times always. Same for Real Madrid and ­Leverkusen.
(Image: West Ham United FC)
“I always want my old clubs to do well. But I have only one love in my life in football — my home club ­Chivas, in Guadalajara. The other clubs are my girlfriends.
“I love them in the moment I love them, then we say goodbye.
“Are the other clubs just jobs? Not jobs. They are like girlfriends. You like them, you love them. You give them your best, they give you the best – but it doesn’t depend on them or me. You just ­separate.
“West Ham? They are my ­girlfriend right now!”
* Javier Hernandez was speaking on behalf of Betway, official principal sponsor of West Ham United.
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