Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has insisted that he never thought about bringing Javier Hernandez back to Old Trafford this summer.
Mourinho has previously suggested that he would not have sold Angel di Maria, Danny Welbeck or Hernandez during his time in charge of the club, saying that the latter in particular was the type of player his side could have done with when trying to break teams down last season.
However, rather than rejoining the Red Devils, Hernandez is now expected to line up against them on the opening day of the Premier League season having joined West Ham United, and Mourinho is confident that the Mexico international will be a success at the London Stadium.
"No [I was not tempted to bring him back], because he left the club a few years ago. I am not sure that it was his decision or the manager's decision," Mourinho told reporters.
"But he's a good player, he's a player that will always score goals, so he is a player I would always welcome in my squad because he doesn't need many minutes on the pitch to score a goal.
"But we moved in another direction and a younger player in [Romelu] Lukaku. We have [Marcus] Rashford that can be also a striker, he is originally a striker, so we didn't feel that need. But no doubt that for West Ham to get a player with his experience and his quality is very, very good."
Hernandez scored 59 goals in 157 appearances during his time at Old Trafford.
Barney Corkhill
