Javier Hernández’s move to Sevilla is a transfer that you will have heard plenty about in the past few days.
The forward swapped West Ham for Sevilla on Monday, after the Spanish club moved to secure his signature over the weekend.
It was a little surprising to see the Mexican allowed to leave West Ham, considering they have lost Michail Antonio to a long-term injury.
Still, West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini sanctioned the move and Hernández jumped at the chance to return to Spain, where he had previously played on loan with Real Madrid.
In fact, such was his desire to leave the Hammers, he took a massive wage cut to make a move happen, something Sevilla sporting director Monchi revealed later on.
It seems had Sevilla not come calling, though, Hernández would have been more than happy to stick with West Ham for the final year of his contract.
“I have just turned 31, and I feel ready, with the mix of all the experience I have already had,” he told Medio Tempo.
“This is my tenth season in Europe and what better way to fulfil it than in this club. Monchi was the one who called me, we talked, and he basically asked me if I would be interested in going to Sevilla.
“I think when they ask you that, you don’t doubt it and I said ‘yes, of course’. I told him that if I didn’t go to Sevilla, I was not going to leave the club (West Ham).”
Had he stayed an extra year, Hernández would have been out of contract at the end of the 2019-20 season, allowing him to leave West Ham on a free transfer.
This meant this was the last time the Hammers could make real money from his exit, and that’s exactly what they did.
