Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez completed his move to Old Trafford in July 2010, becoming United’s first Mexican player.
The exciting young striker joined from hometown club Chivas de Guadalajara, for whom he had scored 29 goals in 79 games since making his debut as a teenager in 2006.
Unusually for a club of United's stature, the transfer was conducted completely under the radar: only the player and his father were aware of the deal and there was no prior speculation in the media, either in the UK or Mexico. 'Chicharito' means ‘little pea’ and Hernandez attracted the moniker because he’s the son of Javier Hernandez, himself a top Mexican striker who played in the 1986 World Cup and was nicknamed 'Chicharo' ('pea') because of his green eyes.
An out-and-out striker, Chicharito is quick, two-footed and strong in the air, qualities that have already seen him likened to Reds legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He’s already made an impact at international level, scoring twice for Mexico in the 2010 World Cup just days before completing his switch to United.
Those goals introduced him to a wider global audience and would undoubtedly have led to a clamour for his signature – precisely the reason why United moved fast to complete the deal before the tournament began.
"We first received some background knowledge of the boy in October [2009]," Sir Alex Ferguson said. "One of our scouts went to Mexico in December and watched a few games – the reports that came back were very good. At that time we thought we'd just wait because he was only young.
"But then he came into the national team and that created a potential problem: if he went to the World Cup and did well at the tournament then we could be in danger of losing him.
"So I sent our chief scout, Jim Lawlor, over to Mexico for three weeks to watch him and get some more background on the boy.
"Jim filed a fantastic report on the boy, so we sent our club solicitor over there with Jim to do the deal. We were delighted to sign him."
Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez
The exciting young striker joined from hometown club Chivas de Guadalajara, for whom he had scored 29 goals in 79 games since making his debut as a teenager in 2006.
Unusually for a club of United's stature, the transfer was conducted completely under the radar: only the player and his father were aware of the deal and there was no prior speculation in the media, either in the UK or Mexico. 'Chicharito' means ‘little pea’ and Hernandez attracted the moniker because he’s the son of Javier Hernandez, himself a top Mexican striker who played in the 1986 World Cup and was nicknamed 'Chicharo' ('pea') because of his green eyes.
An out-and-out striker, Chicharito is quick, two-footed and strong in the air, qualities that have already seen him likened to Reds legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He’s already made an impact at international level, scoring twice for Mexico in the 2010 World Cup just days before completing his switch to United.
Those goals introduced him to a wider global audience and would undoubtedly have led to a clamour for his signature – precisely the reason why United moved fast to complete the deal before the tournament began.
"We first received some background knowledge of the boy in October [2009]," Sir Alex Ferguson said. "One of our scouts went to Mexico in December and watched a few games – the reports that came back were very good. At that time we thought we'd just wait because he was only young.
"But then he came into the national team and that created a potential problem: if he went to the World Cup and did well at the tournament then we could be in danger of losing him."So I sent our chief scout, Jim Lawlor, over to Mexico for three weeks to watch him and get some more background on the boy.
"Jim filed a fantastic report on the boy, so we sent our club solicitor over there with Jim to do the deal. We were delighted to sign him."
Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez