Why has Javier Hernandez struggled at West Ham?

According to Sky Sports, West Ham are open to selling Mexican international forward Javier Hernandez this month. With the winter transfer open, it seems the Hammers may part company with the striker.

Hernandez only joined the Hammers from German side Bayer Leverkusen six months ago for a fee of around £16million. The former Manchester United has not hit the heights expected of him and Irons boss David Moyes may sell the striker to improve his squad elsewhere.

‘Chicharito’ should have been a star at West Ham

I have to admit I believed that the Londoners got themselves a bargain in the summer when they signed Hernandez. He is a striker with proven Premier League experience and more importantly experience of finding the net and seemed like just what the Irons needed.

However, things just have not worked out for the striker in East London. Hernandez has scored just four Premier League goals for West Ham, with his last coming against Crystal Palace back in October.

The arch go-better cannot seem to find the goal all of a sudden. The move to West Ham should have been his chance to prove he can make it as a starter for an English top-flight team after spending of his United career warming the bench.

Unfortunately, it seems it has been the opposite. His West Ham career so far has been underwhelming and shows why he was only used as an impact player at Old Trafford for much of his Red Devils career.

Hernandez scored goals in Leverkusen as a regular starter, so it is a mystery why the striker has not been similarly prolific in the English top-flight. The Bundesliga is the closest league to the English league in European football in terms of pace and physicality. Maybe his teammates at West Ham are not as good as his teammates at the Bundesliga club.

Moyes looking to reshape his squad

It seems that Moyes does not fancy any of his striking options. Senegalese international Diafra Sakho is close to a move to Crystal Palace after the two clubs agreed a fee.

According to the Sky Sports report, the former Everton boss would not mind selling other strikers Andre Ayew and Andy Carroll if a team came in with big enough bids. That seems to say a lot about what the Scot thinks of his striking options at the minute.

Even more telling is the fact that Austrian international winger Marko Arnautovic has been deployed as the main striker in recent months. Fellow winger Michail Antonio has also played up front as well, so it is no surprise that Moyes is open to offers for his floundering front men. It looks from the outside looking in that Moyes does not have great confidence in his striking options.

The Scot does not have much time to reshape his squad this month. However, he may well dip into the transfer market to sign striking reinforcements once he has managed to offload one of his struggling strikers.

West Ham in the relegation dogfight

David Moyes has lifted the Irons out of the relegation zone since his arrival at the club in November. However, the club from the capital are still very much in the relegation dogfight at odds of 7/1 to suffer relegation. It seems the bookmakers believe that the Irons have enough quality to avoid the drop this season, though.

Javier Hernandez is not accustomed to playing in a struggling team in the Premier League. He was accustomed to playing in a team full of quality and a superior supply line at Manchester United. Maybe he is not cut-out for life at the sharp end of the English top-flight table. The team’s struggles certainly have not helped him to find his best form that is for sure.

If he leaves the club from the capital and moves abroad, the striker may always have a feeling that he never quite proved himself as a regular player in the Premier League. That would be a shame for a player that comes across as such a likeable player.

Why has Javier Hernandez struggled at West Ham?