Hernandez scored twice for West Ham on Saturday against Newcastle.
Tony Gale has told LoveSport Radio that he expects West Ham United to sell Javier Hernandez, and believes he needs replacing with a younger striker.
Hernandez, 30, scored a brace for West Ham on Saturday afternoon as the Hammers surprised many with an excellent 3-0 win away at Rafa Benitez’s in-form Newcastle United.
However, the 106-time Mexico international was quoted before the match as saying that he is open to a January move, as quoted by Marca: “I am not closing the door on moving this winter. There is an exit door and another in the summer.”
Hernandez, who cost £16million (West Ham official website) in the summer of 2017, has managed just four Premier League starts this season and ex-Hammer Gale expects him to leave.
“Come the new year, if there was a bid on him and you got your money back, you’d be quite happy with that,” Gale said. “And then we would look at someone else coming in. But strikers are few and far between.
“It is very difficult to get a top-class striker in. When you do, you have to pay a lot of money for them. Maybe, you’d have to take a punt on a kid coming through – but even that’s going to cost you a lot of money. that’s why West Ham have mixed and matched.”
Since joining the Hammers, Hernandez has struggled to get going and has netted just 12 goals in 44 league and cup appearances – despite earning a whopping £140,000 a week (Spotrac).
Italian outlet CalcioMercato claimed on Monday that La Liga sides Valencia and Real Sociedad are interested in signing the former Manchester United and Bayer Leverkusen striker.
It remains to be seen if Hernandez will remain at West Ham, though a run of starts in the side could convince the pocket-sized assassin to remain in east London. The Hammers face Cardiff City on Tuesday night.
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