Javier Hernandez to join West Ham after £20m fee agreed
Jason Burt, chief football correspondent
20 JULY 2017 • 5:56PM
West Ham United have agreed a deal worth close to £20million to sign striker Javier Hernandez.
It had been thought there was a £13million buy-out clause in Hernandez’s contract with Bayer Leverkusen but this is not understood to be the case with West Ham having had to negotiate a deal for the 29-year-old.
Signing Hernandez will be another significant boost for West Ham whose manager Slaven Bilic wants him to lead a new-look attack alongside Michail Antonio – who agreed a new long-term contract at the end of last season – and Marko Arnautovic.West Ham have already agreed a deal worth up to £24million - £20million plus £4million in add-ons if they qualify for European football – for the Austrian international.
Hernandez will now fly into London for a medical and to sign a contract before joining up with the West Ham squad on pre-season tour in Austria. He would be due to make his West Ham debut against his former club Manchester United at Old Trafford on Aug 13.
Hernandez left United for Leverkusen in 2015 - when he considered a move to West Ham also - having scored 59 goals in 157 appearances for the Premier League club and he has continued to score goals in the Bundesliga.
Known as ‘Chicarito’ he has scored 39 in 76 appearances for Bayer since his arrival, but, with one year left on his current deal, wanted to move back to the Premier League.
The deal caps a good week for West Ham who agreed terms with Stoke for Arnautovic and signed Joe Hart on a season-long loan from Manchester City. They also brought in another City player, right-back Pablo Zabaleta, once the window opened.
All four players will be key signings for Bilic who wants to add more Premier League experience and stronger characters to his squad. Signing the players – who are all on significant wages – is a sign of ambition also from the club.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/07/20/javier-hernandez-join-west-ham-clubs-agree-deal/?WT.mc_id=tmg_share_tw