Galaxy star Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernández suffers torn ACL that may end his career
Javier “Chicharito” Hernández has likely played his last game for the Galaxy, and could see his career end as well, after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee on a freak play in the first half of Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal in Sandy, Utah.
Hernández was charging up the center of the Real Salt Lake defense in the 24th minute when he stretched for a pass from teammate Riqui Puig about 15 yards outside the penalty area. Hernández, who was not touched on the play, then tumbled to the turf and immediately motioned to the Galaxy bench for help. The injury, confirmed in an MRI exam on Thursday, will require surgery to repair.
Recovery can take six to nine months, meaning Hernández won’t be back this year. His contract with the Galaxy ends when the season does and at 35 and coming off a serious injury, he may find it difficult to find another club willing to give him a chance.
Javier “Chicharito” Hernández struggled throughout the 2020 season and vowed to come out strong for the Galaxy in 2021. So far, he’s delivered.
“I’m gutted for him,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “It’s a tough one. And the team has to process it too. He’s the captain, a guy that’s a leader for the group. So the group has to kind of process that he won’t be with us again this year. He’s close to a lot of guys.”
But Vanney said he believes Hernández will play again, if only to write his own ending to a career that was arguably among the best ever for a Mexican player.
“It’s a long period of time,” he said of the rehab. “I know with his work rate and with his passion and desire to be out there, he’s going to do the work and put himself in position to come back.”
Hernández, who played 74 games for the Galaxy over four years, led the team in scoring in each of the last two full seasons and his 35 goals combined were second-best in MLS over that span. He missed the first five games this season with a hamstring injury and has just a goal and an assist in nine appearances for the Galaxy (3-9-3), who are last in the 29-team league standings.
Mexico’s all-time leading scorer with 52 international goals, Hernández came to the Galaxy ahead of the 2020 season, signing a three-year contract that paid him more than $19.4 million. With the $9.4-million transfer fee the team had to pay Spanish club Sevilla for the rights to sign Hernández, the deal cost the Galaxy $28.8 million.
Performance clauses in the designated-player contract were triggered last year, extending the deal for a fourth season and a guaranteed $7.4 million, making Hernández the third-highest-paid player in the league. If the Galaxy place Hernández on the season-ending injury list they can sign another designated player, but because of sanctions levied against the team by MLS last December over violations of the league’s salary rules, the Galaxy are limited as to the type of player they can sign to replace him.
“I don’t see, with his particular injury, a road back this season,” Vanney said. “So it’s something that we certainly would have to discuss.”
In the final year of his contract, Javier “Chicharito” Hernández will have one more chance to leave his mark on MLS and perhaps earn an extension.
Hernández, whose father and grandfather both played in World Cups for the Mexican national team, began his career with the youth program at Chivas of Guadalajara when he was 9, then made his first-team debut in 2006. After the 2010 World Cup, in which he scored twice in four appearances, Hernández jumped to Manchester United of the English Premier League, the first stop on a five-team, three-country European tour that would also see him play for Real Madrid, Bayern Leverkusen, West Ham United and Sevilla, winning two EPL championships, Europe League and Club World Cup titles and start in a Champions League final.
He also scored in three separate World Cups, making 109 appearances for Mexico. Including the past two seasons with the Galaxy, Hernández scored 10 or more goals eight times in 18 first-team club seasons.
