Javier Hernandez
PEOPLE AND PLACES IN THE NEWS(Guadalajara to Sporting Kansas City),
Oswaldo Alanis (Guadalajara to San Jose
Earthquakes), Edison Flores (Morelia to
DC United) and Lucas Cavallini (Puebla to
Vancouver Whitecaps) all moved from
the Liga MX to MLS.
Part of Hernandez’s popularity stems
from his modest personality. He has
gained a huge following on YouTube for
his reality-video series in which he gives
a glimpse into his life beyond the pitch.
In one episode he is recorded making
an emotional phone call to his parents,
reflecting on his departure from Sevilla
for a final career chapter in Los Angeles.
“It’s like the beginning of my
retirement,” he says in a comment that
sparked enormous reaction on social
media, but he goes on to add: “What I
mean is, that we’re saying goodbye to a
career that we put a lot of effort on.”
While much attention has been paid to
the player’s marketing appeal, there is no
doubting his footballing talents will boost
Galaxy’s on-pitch efforts.
For Galaxy this season the challenge
is to go one better than last year, when
they lost in the play-off semi-finals to
city rivals Los Angeles FC.
The derby match will now have added
spice when Hernandez comes face to
face with his international team-mate
Carlos Vela, voted the league’s best
player last year.
Few would bet against the Little Pea
becoming the MVP of 2020.
John Holmesdale(Stuttgart, €11m).
Klinsmann’s brief time at Hertha
provoked a strong reaction from German
media, with many questioning whether
he will ever work in Germany again.
Though Klinsmann’s time in charge
of the national side at the 2006 World
Cup on home soil is fondly remembered,
memories are fresh of his disastrous time
at Bayern, where his new-age methods
angered many players and resulted in a
rare, trophyless season.
John Holmesdale
F
illing the shoes of
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
was never going to
be an easy task, but
LA Galaxy looked to
have pulled off one of
the most significant
signings in the history of MLS with the
arrival of Javier Hernandez from Sevilla.
The 31-year-old, aka Chicharito (“the
Little Pea”), arrives in California after 10
years in Europe, with Manchester United,
Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, West
Ham United and Sevilla, and will receive
a $6million salary for each of the three
years of his contract.
Mexico’s all-time top international
goalscorer and the country’s most
popular player of his generation will bring
new eyeballs and interest in MLS in a way
that not even the likes of Ibrahimovic and
David Beckham managed to do.
Signing the sport’s biggest star in
North America is a no-brainer for MLS.
The league still lags way behind the
Mexican Liga MX and the English Premier
League when it comes to attracting TV
viewers. But almost 37million of the
USA’s population see themselves as of
full or partial Mexican origin, while Los
Angeles has the country’s second-largest
Hispanic population with 1.8 million,
behind only New York’s 2.27 million.
Hernandez’s move to MLS is part of a
wider trend of established players moving
from the Mexican league to the USA.
Ahead of the new season, Alan PulidoChicharito joins Galaxy in huge coup for MLS
Fame...Mexico’s
all-time top scorer