Chicharito wept as Sevilla exit forced Mexico's record scorer to abandon his European dream

Javier Hernandez was visibly emotional in January 2020 when he confirmed his move to LA Galaxy, telling fans in a tearful video that leaving Sevilla felt like “the beginning of my retirement” from European football. The Mexican striker, who remains his country’s all-time record goalscorer, had spent just a brief, largely fruitless spell in Seville before the club decided to move him on.

“I wanted to speak to you guys because the thing is about to get done, it’s almost certain that I’m going to LA,” Hernandez said in the video. “It’s okay, everything is perfect, it’s only that, well, it’s like the beginning of my retirement. We’re saying goodbye to a career that we put a lot of effort on. We’re going to look at the bright side, but whether we like it or not we are retiring from the European dream.”

Hernandez had arrived in European football with considerable fanfare. He joined Manchester United from Guadalajara in the summer of 2010 for around £7 million, having caught the eye at the World Cup in South Africa that same summer. The striker, widely known as ‘Chicharito’, wasted little time justifying the fee, registering 20 goals across all competitions in his debut season at Old Trafford as United won the Premier League and reached the Champions League final at Wembley, where Barcelona denied them a double.

As opportunities at United diminished, Hernandez spent the 2014/15 season on loan at Real Madrid before leaving Old Trafford permanently in the summer of 2015 to sign for Bayer Leverkusen. He continued to prove his worth in the Bundesliga before a turbulent spell at West Ham, where he scored 16 goals, preceded his move to Sevilla in 2019.

The stint in Seville yielded little, and within months Hernandez was on his way to MLS. His departure marked the end of a decade-long European chapter that had begun so brightly in Manchester under Sir Alex Ferguson.