Chicharito

Name pronunciation: click here

The LA Galaxy signed Javier “Chicharito” Hernández to a Designated Player contract, the club announced on Jan. 21, 2020.

Hernández is Mexico’s all-time leading goal scorer and joins the LA Galaxy following time with Chivas de Guadalajara, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, West Ham and most recently, Sevilla. In all, the forward has tallied over 200 goals during his career for both club and country.

Throughout his career, Hernández has appeared in over 400 matches across top-flight leagues in Mexico, England, Spain and Germany in addition to appearing in over 100 matches for Mexico. During that time, he has tallied 156 goals for club and 52 goals for country, the most of any Mexico International. Since 2006, he has represented sides that have captured two Premier League titles (2011, 2013), the Mexican Primera División: Apertura (2006), the FIFA Club World Cup (2014), the Concacaf Gold Cup (2011) and Concacaf Cup (2015). Individually, he has been honored as Concacaf Men’s Player of the Year (2015), Concacaf Best XI (2015) and Concacaf Gold Cup Golden Boot and MVP (2011) and was named to the Bundesliga Team of the Season (2015-16).

Hernández began his career as a professional with Chivas Guadalajara in 2006 after nearly a decade in their youth system. After scoring 26 goals for the Liga MX side, he secured a transfer to the Premier League with Manchester United in 2010.

After scoring 59 goals with Manchester United across all competitions, the forward joined La Liga giant Real Madrid on loan in 2014. The following season, Hernández made a permanent transfer to Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen, where he enjoyed some of the most productive years of his career with 39 goals in 76 appearances. He rounded out his time before joining LA with stints at West Ham in England (2017-19) and Sevilla in Spain (2019).

Internationally, the Guadalajara product has produced the most successful career in El Tri history, with 52 goals in 109 appearances across the FIFA World Cup (2010, 2014, 2018), FIFA World Cup Qualifying matches, Concacaf Gold Cup, FIFA Confederations Cup, Copa América Centenario and friendly contests. He made his Mexico debut in 2009 during a match against Colombia and scored his first two goals for Mexico in a match against Bolivia on Feb. 24, 2010. Across three separate FIFA World Cup tournaments, Hernández boasts four goals, in addition to eight goals during FIFA World Cup Qualifying matches. His 52 international goals surpass Jared Borgetti (46), Cuauhtémoc Blanco (39) and former LA Galaxy players Luis Hernández (35) and Carlos Hermosillo (35).