Javier Hernandez’s transfer to LA Galaxy is a big deal on and off the field

Javier Hernandez’s transfer to the LA Galaxy could be one of the biggest in the history of Major League Soccer as Chicharito finally comes to the U.S.

Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez’s move to LA Galaxy is being compared to the biggest signings in Major League Soccer history, and with good reason.

He arrives in place of Zlatan Ibrahimovic as one of Galaxy’s Designated Players, with the club digging into their pockets for a $9.4 million transfer fee to prise him from Spanish side Sevilla. Once add-ons and bonuses are taken into account, the contract he signed will make him the highest-paid player in the league, according to SI.

Hernandez confirmed the move to the LA Times ahead of the official announcement, saying “It was the right time, the right opportunity.”

MLS is often criticized for signing players who may be past their peak, and such jibes have been made following the arrival of 31-year-old Chicharito, but a player who relies as much on his movement and instinct as his quickness will be just a sharp at 31 as he was at 21.

As Hernandez told the Times, “I really believe you don’t go there to retire.”

The Mexican penalty-box dweller has been one of his country’s most successful soccer exports, and his global profile has snowballed ever since he signed for Manchester United almost ten years ago.

On his arrival, United were still at the peak of their powers under legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Just a year earlier they had become only the fourth side in history to win the English league title for three consecutive seasons and had won their third European Cup two years earlier.

Hernandez was joining a global soccer power, and his signing directly from Mexican side Guadalajara also increased United’s reputation among North America’s Hispanic population north and south of the Mexico border.

He scored 59 goals in 157 appearances for United, picking up Premier League winner’s medals in 2011 and 2013. On the face of it, this is around a goal every two or three games, but these goals came in just 8,305 minutes on the pitch, the equivalent of 92 full matches, giving him an outstanding record of 0.64 goals per 90 minutes or the equivalent more than a goal every other game.

A loan move to Real Madrid further increased his reputation, and while he is not quite as high profile as brand Zlatan off the field, the brand he has created for himself on it has been more than enough to make him a global star.

Chicharito forged a career with a reputation as being something of a throwback. Most strikers in the modern game are required to do more than simply hang around in the area before sticking the ball in the back of the net, but the 31-year-old is known more for getting on the end of things around the six-yard box than contributing to build-up play.

This perception is partly due to those early years at United where he was regularly asked to come off the bench and grab a goal, and consequently he has been defined by many as a penalty box goal poacher and little else.

But he has proven in subsequent years, at clubs where he has had a more regular and prominent role in the team, that he can link up play as well as score goals, and though he will never really be an aerial threat as a target man, his build-up play on the ground is underrated.

He settled in the Bundesliga for a couple of seasons with Borussia Monchengladbach, scoring 17 goals in 28 league games and five in nine in the Champions League during his first season in Germany.

One of his toughest tests came after a move to West Ham, an ambitious midtable Premier League side, but one whose results have always struggled to match that ambition. As was the case during his first stint in England, he found himself making regular appearances from the bench but still managed a decent goal return, scoring 17 goals in the 3,495 minutes he was on the field.

Hernandez is Mexico’s all-time leading goalscorer with 52 goals, having overtaken Jared Borgetti in 2017. He has scored for Mexico at each of the past three World Cups.

Before arriving in MLS at 2018 expansion side Los Angeles FC, Hernandez’s compatriot Carlos Vela followed a similar path to the west coast. He had also moved from Guadalajara to the English Premier League at a young age, before finding his feet in continental Europe, and then finding a home in L.A.

In order to have a similar impact, Hernandez needs to hit the ground running and, more importantly, needs to go some way towards replacing Ibrahimovic’s goals.

The Swede scored 31 in 31 games for Galaxy last season, and if the new man gets anywhere near that he will be considered a success. There’s no reason he won’t score goals given his record in more difficult circumstances in recent seasons, and he could work well with the club’s 23-year-old Argentine winger, Cristian Pavon.

Should he settle on the pitch, he could feel more at home at this club than at any of his previous sides, as is the case with Vela across town.

Along with Texas, California has the second-highest Hispanic and Latino population in the U.S. behind New Mexico. This is something Galaxy, and by extension MLS, have tapped into with this signing. On his travels around Europe and with the Mexico national team, Hernandez has built a profile in Hispanic America, and now he’s coming home to it.

Though his brand doesn’t have the same worldwide makeup as previous Galaxy Galacticos such as Zlatan and Beckham, it is nonetheless a substantial one, and his signing could yet be the biggest MLS has made in terms of its impact within the North American continent.