07/03/2011 12:00, Report by Mark Froggatt
Chicharito is a steal
Sir Alex Ferguson has expressed his delight at how quickly Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez has settled in at Old Trafford and described the United striker as incredible value for money following his low-key capture from Chivas.
In light of the January transfer window, in which an estimated £115million exchanged between Premier League clubs, the Reds boss is more than confident he picked out a bargain in Chicharito.
Sir Alex told Inside United: “We have done fantastically well there, no doubt. We’ve stolen him! It was quite a long process involved in bringing him here, and we’d prefer that.”
So far, Chicharito has bagged 14 goals from 31 appearances in all competitions and is rapidly gaining a reputation as something of a goal machine. It makes satisfying dividends for Sir Alex and head scout Jim Lawlor, who did a great deal of homework on the Mexican international before pen was put to paper.
“We analysed him and found out about his background. Once we knew that, Jim Lawlor stayed in Mexico for a month and made sure we got the deal done. We got him across to England and sealed all the contracts. It was a good bit of business."
Sir Alex continued: “It started last December (2009) actually and we didn’t get the deal done until May. But we’d been watching him since November. The reports were getting better and better so Jim spent a month in Mexico watching him in different games. His international record is incredible actually. He’s scoring almost a goal a game. It’s quite amazing.”
http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2011/Mar/Boss-reflects-on-bargain-buy.aspx