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Report: MLS in negotiations with ‘Chicharito’ for 2018 move

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MLS teams have long pursued Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez, and it appears the league is making another go at signing the Mexico star.

ESPN is reporting that MLS is in negotiations with the Bayer Leverkusen star over a potential move to the league. The move would reportedly happen in the summer of 2018 following the expiration of Hernandez’s deal with the German club. According to the report, the timeline could be accelerated, though, if the club looks to sell and cash in on the forward in pursuit of a transfer fee.

Hernandez’s salary would reportedly be upwards of $9 million, the largest deal in MLS.

Orlando City and the Chicago Fire reportedly pursued the Mexican star in recent years, while the LA Galaxy and upcoming expansion side Los Angeles FC are reportedly in the hunt this time around.

Comments

  1. Perfect – dude went about six months without a goal recently so I guess he’ll now be willing to come to MLS and jog around for $9m a year.

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    • Well, Giovinco rarely got off the bench at Juventus. MLS is still a considerable step down from top European leagues so that even fringe players can star (Bradley Wright Phillips being another example).

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      • Yeah but BWP makes about 1/15th of that salary and I’d bet good money Hernandez will never score anywhere near as many goals in MLS. Plenty of guys come here from big leagues and don’t star too. Still, if enough people flock to Bridgeview to try and watch him score tap-ins, it may be worth it.

      • Doubt he’s itching to leave Germany to go to Chicago. L.A. is a more likely destination…. LAFC even more likely. Guess we’ll see who they theoretically put around him, but I don’t see him having any problem “tapping in” 20. That knock on Chicharito always humors me. Highly effective poachers have been and always will be a valued commodity and he is one of the best. U.S. sure could have used a few more of those last bit of time. Or… one.

  2. He’d be a huge signing here in Chicago. Outside the upstart LAFC, Chicago would be his best destination for the league and for the state of the Chicago Fire. Undoubtedly, he’d have the Cuauhtemoc Blanco-effect on the fanbase but instead with the younger Latino generation.

    I just wish the league/Don Garber took the city more seriously. There’s a rabid fan base here that’s a sleeping giant comprised of mostly international/latino fans that are immune to the bland product and having to drive out to Bridgeview.

    If we had a league that focused less on Miami and instead re-starting the franchise here with a serious ownership group and a stadium closer to downtown, they’d have a monster on their hands. Instead, this club remains the shining example of a polished turd. Has the name “Chicago” but the club might as well be playing in Springfield.

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    • Completely agree with this. Seems so misguided to try to open up the books on a franchise in such an auspicious location as Miami… that is proving every bit as indifferent to MLS in trying to get itself going as it was in the misguided failure of a first attempt. Meanwhile, Chicago, a great spots town with a pretty devout soccer fanbase is run so shabbily. They really ought to emphasize realizing/maximizing what they’ve got before venturing into new endeavors. The 2 aren’t mutually exclusive……… a thriving Chicago would boost the overall product immensely, both competitively, attracting quality players and even help expansion…. make entry into the league that much more tempting for big bucks ownership groups.

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  3. ESPN is reporting that MLS is in negotiations with the Bayer Leverkusen

    The move would reportedly happen in the summer of 2018 following the expiration of Hernandez’s deal with the German club.

    …what am I missing here? Why are they negotiating with a club that Hernandez will be out of contract with? To dissuade him from re-signing a new deal I assume?

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    • Made no sense to me either. And we always see things the exact opposite way so we have all 360 degrees covered.

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    • Unless he come to your team. Actually, I think he was approached, with Leverkusens permission, when the team was in Florida last month. It was also during the time when he was in his slump. Things are different now. He’s going to cost money, but I think, both the LAG and the LAFC will make a serious play. LAFC becasue they have to get a “statement” player, and the LAG becasue they have all these bucks from the LA Chargers.

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    • I think he’ll be good. Mexican guy in Germany…utterly foreign culture, foreign language, and he doesn’t even have the comfort of your usual whitebread American of looking like he might belong. Combine that with cold rainy weather, lotta gray skies…be easy to get depressed, isolated, and wither on the vine some. Long way from home, and I can promise you he feels it every day.

      Bring the guy back to sunny LA, where the weather and climate’s a lot more what he remembers and where he’s a cultural hero surrounded by tons of his fellow countrymen who he can actually talk to, and I think he’ll feel a whole lot more at home. Gio dos Santos surely took to it like a duck to water, anyhow, and I suspect Chicharito will too.

      So it’d likely be about the best $9 million a year the league ever spent, too. He’ll pack the house anywhere he goes…and Butts In Seats and Eyes on the Field is the real name of the game, always has been.

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