West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini has agreed to sell Javier Hernandez, and will boost dressing room morale as a result, according to Football Insider.
The Hammers are understood to be in talks with Sevilla over a late switch for the 31-year-old hitman, with a fee of around £7-8 million being mooted.
And a source close to the club reportedly explained that Hernandez’s £140,000-a-week weekly wage is a matter of some tension amongst his teammates, with the Mexican currently the Irons’ highest earner by some distance.
Will Hernandez be missed?
This is a more nuanced matter than it might initially appear.
On the face of it, you may look at Hernandez’s stats during his time at West Ham and be rather underwhelmed.
He has managed just 16 goals in the Premier League during his spell with the club, and is now at the beginning of his third season with the Hammers.
Beyond that, he averaged 1.5 shots per game in the league last season, as per Whoscored, but only registered 0.2 key passes and 0.5 successful dribbles per match.
He may be a poacher, but those numbers are damning, and illustrate a player who does not contribute enough to the team effort.
In that respect, sell him and don’t look back, especially at £140,000-a-week.
On the other hand, the Hammers aren’t exactly blessed with options up front, and beyond Sebastien Haller and the as-yet-unproven Albian Ajeti, they have nobody.
An injury would be devastating to their hopes of finishing in a European spot, and on the basis of that, you might be tempted to consider keeping Chicharito as a last resort.
But last resorts shouldn’t cost £140,000-a-week, and at this moment in time, unless something drastic and unfortunate happens to Haller, then this looks like a smart move from Pellegrini.
Is Hernandez likely to leave?
At this stage, it would be a surprise if he didn’t.
Talks are reportedly ongoing, and Pellegrini has form for cutting adrift players for the greater good of the team.
Marko Arnautovic was ousted, and if Hernandez is causing tension, indirectly or otherwise, then the Chilean will surely see him as an obstacle that his side could well do without.
The player seems keen having reportedly handed in a transfer request, as per the Daily Mail, and as long as the fee is right and all parties are satisfied, this should happen.