West Ham manager Slaven Bilic seems delighted to have signed the Mexican forward Javier Hernandez this summer.
The Croatian confirmed that the Hammers have been long term admirers of the player and they tried to sign him in 2015. Bilic claims that he spoke to the player on the phone back then but the former Manchester United forward decided to join Leverkusen instead.
Chicharito has had a good start to life at West Ham and the Mexican has scored 2 goals in 2 appearances for the Hammers so far.
West Ham needed to add a proven goalscorer this summer and Chicharito should prove to be a cracking addition. The 29-year-old has always managed to score consistently and he could be the difference between a mid-table finish and a European place.
Bilic revealed that Chicharito had other suitors as well and West Ham had to fend off the competition.
Speaking to the West Ham media department, Slaven Bilic said:
We are very pleased that he is our player. He was our target and it was a long shot, but we never gave up on him and it was always possible. We had to fight with a few other clubs, of course, but we were delighted when we did it because we expected and knew what we were getting and he showed on Saturday what he is all about. Plus, the work he did when we were down to ten and to play the whole second half in left midfield when he was needed [was outstanding]. He knows we liked him because we wanted to get him when he went from Manchester United to Leverkusen [in 2015]. We spoke then and I called him on the phone. He opted for Leverkusen and he called and said ‘Thank you gaffer but I’m going to Leverkusen but maybe we’ll speak again’. After two years we spoke again so we didn’t start from zero. I know it helped him to choose us.
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