Los Angeles (AFP) – Javier Hernandez completed his long-awaited transfer to the Los Angeles Galaxy on Tuesday, saying the lure of playing regular football had prompted his move to Major League Soccer.
The Mexican international striker, who will reportedly become the highest paid player in MLS, with Sports Illustrated saying he will earn $6 million (5.41 million euros) a year, joins the Galaxy after a frustrating spell at Spanish side Sevilla.
After weeks of rumours linking the 31-year-old to a switch to MLS, the Galaxy announced the signing in a statement on the club’s website.
“Javier has consistently scored goals in top leagues throughout the world and has been his country’s most successful player over the last decade,” Los Angeles Galaxy general manager Dennis te Kloese said.
“He is a competitor who has proven success at the highest level and has scored the most goals ever of one of the best teams in CONCACAF.
“We think he can be one of Major League Soccer’s best attacking threats and help our team in multiple ways.”
Hernandez will bolster a Galaxy attack which begins the new season missing the star power of departed striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The Mexican star heads to the MLS after a successful career in European club football which included stints with Manchester United, Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen and West Ham, as well as Sevilla.
Hernandez has scored more than 200 goals for club and country throughout his career.
He was a member of Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United squad which won the Premier League titles in 2011 and 2013 while at international level he has scored 52 goals in 109 games for Mexico.
In comments to the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, Hernandez said his move “was the right time, the right opportunity.”
Hernandez added that he had chosen the Galaxy because of the promise of a regular starting place after spending much of the past two seasons as a fringe player at Sevilla and West Ham.
“I’m going to be playing,” Hernandez told the Times. “That’s what I want in my life. People are going to say it was because I couldn’t make it [in Europe], but sometimes in football there are things that are not in your hands.
“The last two years, the managers decided on giving confidence to other players rather than me. And now, the LA Galaxy, the manager of the club and the league, are telling me: ‘Look, Javier, we want to give you all the trust, all the confidence to help us,’ and that’s why I’m taking this opportunity.”
