Abu Dhabi: Al Wahda lodged an eye-watering €40 million (Dh163.7m) bid for the former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker Javier Hernandez in the summer, according to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo Deportivo.
It said the audacious swoop was driven by Hernandez’s Mexican compatriot, the Wahda boss Javier Aguirre, but revealed that his club Bayer Leverkusen refused to do business.
Hernandez, 28, recently hinted he would consider leaving the Bundesliga outfit, for whom he has netted 22 times in 33 appearances since arriving last year.
“Future? In football you never say never. In recent years, I have changed [clubs] several times. I thought [I would] stay at Real Madrid, and it did not happen. Just as I thought I’d stay at Manchester United, then I came to Leverkusen,” the man known as ‘Chicharito’ (Little Pea), who has scored 45 goals for Mexico in 89 appearances, said.
Wahda could certainly have done with Hernandez’s attacking prowess in a dismal and winless start to the season after six domestic matches.
The Clarets’ Arabian Gulf Cup defence is as good as over after they drew 2-2 at home to Emirates on Tuesday, while they have also drawn their opening two Arabian Gulf League matches.
The Abu Dhabi club announced that they had signed “a global superstar” when they snared the Hungary captain Balazs Dzsudzsak in August, but the winger has yet to find his feet in the UAE.
Wahda had been set to bolster their attack with the recruitment of the Brazilian striker, Thiago Alves, but he joined Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal despite earlier undergoing a medical in Abu Dhabi.
Aside from Dzsudzsak, Wahda’s foreign contingent features last season’s AGL top-scorer Sebastian Tagliabue, Chile playmaker Jorge Valdivia and South Korea centre-back Rim Changwoo.
