“Hard part was convincing West Ham” – Club director on taking player from Hammers

Mexican newspapers often have some good stories about their stars who have been playing abroad, and El Universal today brings a pretty impressive piece about Javier Hernandez.

Focusing on his start to the season with Sevilla, the outlet has not only managed to interview manager Julen Lopetegui, but also president José Castro and club director Monchi.

Both spoke of Chicharito’s first impact at the La Liga side, and the board members gave details of the negotiations to bring the player from West Ham United last summer.

“We have been trying to sign Chicharito for years, it was always impossible for the cost when he was in Spain,” said José Castro. “But we didn’t stop following him and it was when we started to need a striker… he was ideal. He’s a good guy, he grabbed affection.

“The hard part was convincing West Ham,” Monchi told El Universal. “Javier’s name arises when we wanted to complete the attack. The manager gave us the idea of a different attacker, we analysed the economic aspect for two months, but when we talked to Javier, he conquered us with his hunger and the desire to come.”

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West Ham signed Hernandez in a €17.8m move from Bayer Leverkusen back in 2017. In two years with the Hammers, he managed 17 goals and four assists in 63 appearances.

Taking a look at Monchi’s quotes, it’s just a little strange to see him saying that West Ham were hard to convince, given that in the end they let the striker go to Spain for only €7.75m.