West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has said that Javier Hernandez was a bargain buy for his club. The 29-year-old Hernandez arrived at the London Stadium this summer for £16 million from German club Bayer Leverkusen.
Though the Hammers are currently on a poor run of form, having lost their first two Premier League games of this season, Hernandez has proven that he can deliver as he struck a brace during his club’s 3-2 defeat against Southampton on Saturday.
Following his teams defeat to the Saints, Bilic spoke positively of Hernandez, saying, “We are very pleased.
“He was our target and it was a long shot but we never gave up on him. It was always possible and we had to fight with a few other clubs of course but we were delighted when we did it because knew what we were getting.
“He knows that I like him because we wanted to get him when he left Manchester United for Leverkusen. I called him then on the phone but he opted for Leverkusen.
“He called and said: ‘Thank you gaffer, but I’m going to Germany but maybe we’ll cross paths again’.
“And he showed today exactly what he’s all about – plus the work he did when we were down to 10 men, in left midfield in the second half or, when it was needed, to be like a left back.”
After fighting back from 2-0 down, the Hammers looked set to secure a draw due to Hernandez’s heroics but a successful Charlie Austin penalty conversion during second half stoppage time consigned them to defeat.
