Here’s a great stat I found online – Fernando Torres, Edin Dzeko and Andy Carroll cost a total of 112 million pounds, and Carroll is the only one to have scored for his new club in the Premier League.
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Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, on the other hand, cost 7 million pounds, and he’s already hit 11 goals in the league, and 18 overall.
While the 112 million pound trio have one two goals between them since arriving at their respective clubs in January, Hernandez has scored SEVEN since the turn of the year.
And let’s not forget, it’s only his first season in the European top flight.
Alex Ferguson did some serious damage to his reputation for unearthing talent during the depressing era of Eric Djemba-Djemba and Liam Miller, but Hernandez has gone some way in fixing that.
But comparisons between Hernandez and the more expensive trio are not completely fair. Andy Carroll was injured, Torres is having to adjust to a new system at Chelsea, and Dzeko is, well, playing for Man City. Moreover, Hernandez has been training with his new teammates since last summer, and a couple of his goals in 2011 were scored at the beginning of January, before most of the transfer window deals were done.
Nevertheless, it’s a remarkable achievement. Few players have settled in the Premier League as quickly as he has (don’t forget, he’s gone from sunny Mexico to freezing Manchester), and if United win any silverware this season, it will be impossible to not attribute part of it to Hernandez’s goals.
Chelsea and Liverpool fans can still be very pleased with the business the clubs did in January. David Luiz and Luis Suarez might have each cost over 20 million pounds, but they’re already looking like bargains.
For me, Luiz is heading straight for the top. I think he’ll be the best defender in the world for Chelsea in the next few years, if not sooner. He’s absolute class, and on top of that, a magnificent athlete.
And Suarez is such a livewire up front. Not only will he score loads of goals for Liverpool, but he’ll also create his fair share and terrorise plenty of defenses with his skills.
On the downside for United, their other recent signings like Bebe and Gabriel Obertan continue to terrorise defenses too, but only in the reserves. The step up to the first team still looks like a distant dream for them.
They seem to possess more pure footballing talent than Hernandez, in that they have the skills, great technique in striking the ball and good physique; but what Hernandez has is the right temperament, the right attitude, and a goal-scorer’s instincts. And that, you cannot teach.
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