Top 10 Manchester United signings of the decade

5. Javier Hernandez

What Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could do with a goal poacher like Javier Hernandez in his squad right now! The Mexican started his playing career with C. D. Guadalajara and rose through the ranks to play for the first team. At a very early age, it was clear that the young boy had an eye for the goal and Chicharito, with his alertness and movement in the box, certainly convinced a lot of people that he was destined for greatness. Among them were Manchester United scouts, who submitted a glowing report of the young man. The Mexican was made a United player in April of 2010, while his deal made official in July once the transfer window opened.

Chicharito proved to be a fantastic buy for the club and was certainly the fox in the box that Manchester United needed. He finished his debut season with 20 goals from 45 appearances and it was clear that Sir Alex had hit jackpot in the transfer market once again. Injuries hampered his development in the following season, as the Mexican only managed 36 appearances but still scored 12 times.

In his third season, Chicharito scored 18 times from 36 games and was a crucial member of the team that won the Premier League. After Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, the Mexican struggled under David Moyes, like the rest of the team, and only managed 9 goals from 35 appearances. Louis van Gaal saw him surplus to requirements and sent him on loan to Real Madrid in the 2014/15 season and he was subsequently sold to Bayer Leverkusen in the following year.

The Mexican has 2 Premier League and one Community Shield medals from his time with the Red Devils and was one of the top signings of the last decade.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over seven years at Sportskeeda. He has written more than 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 20 million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

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Edited by Sai Teja