Hernandez: Van Gaal told me I had 1% chance of playing

Javier Hernandez has said his move to Bayer Leverkusen was prompted by Louis van Gaal’s insistence he had only a “one per cent chance of playing”.

Hernandez signed a three-year contract with the Bundesliga side in the summer for £7.3million after seeing his first-team opportunities disappear under Van Gaal at Old Trafford.

The Mexico striker, who scored 59 goals in 157 United appearances, was loaned out to Real Madrid for a season in the summer of 2014 just a few months after the arrival of Van Gaal after a reported falling out between the pair.

The 27-year-old returned to Old Trafford this summer and made three appearances, but he was told his future looked bleak and he left for the Bundesliga, thanking everyone at United, bar Van Gaal.

“I didn’t have the intention to leave [on loan in 2014], but I wanted to more playing time. Van Gaal told me that he already had his strikers, that I would have to fight for a place but could take an offer if an opportunity arrives,” Hernandez told Spanish TV show Fiebre Maldini.

“The board told me that I could go on loan to Real Madrid and it was not a difficult decision for me.

“Then I returned to Manchester. I started to have opportunities but one day I spoke with Van Gaal and I had only a 1% chance of playing so I needed to make magic. So I moved to Bayer.”

Hernandez has been in sensational form for Bayer and has blasted 17 goals already this season for Roger Schmidt’s side.