Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez will return to West Ham United's squad this weekend, the club announced Friday.
The star Mexico forward suffered a hamstring injury in early November with the national team during a 3-3 draw against Belgium. He returned to full training this week and is set to be included in the team Saturday against Chelsea.
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His role may be limited, but manager David Moyes, who Chicharito is yet to play for at West Ham because of the injury, said the forward is set to return.
“We’re looking much better,” Moyes said at a news conference. “We have had a whole host of players back training for a few days, not fully training and in some cases I would say not fully fit either, but it’s good to get them back."
"Back training, yeah, he's one of the ones back training," Moyes said of Chicharito.
Seeing Chicharito on the field for West Ham may calm the nerves of Mexio fans, many of whom expressed concern after Moyes was hired as West Ham manager. Moyes coached Chicharito at Manchester United during a tumultuous spell for both the forward and the club but has said he's excited for a new era of relations with the forward.
West Ham owner David Sullivan told The Guardian that former manager Slaven Bilic pushed for a number of signings, including that of Chicharito, has done little to ease Mexico fans fears that Chicharito will come into 2018's World Cup in top form.
“I regret it in a way, the first year I was more involved and the next two years I was less involved. We’ve let the manager pick who he wants," Sullivan said.
Even so, Bilic often played Chicharito as a winger rather than center forward where the 29-year-old is more comfortable. Moyes may have little choice other than to rely on Chicharito. The club currently sits 19th in the Premier League table, and despite his month out with injury, Chicharito remains the club's top scorer with his four league goals doubling his nearest teammate.
