Manchester United's Javier Hernández signs new five-year contract | Football | The Guardian
Javier Hernández has agreed a new five‑year contract that moves him into
Manchester United's higher bracket of earners and continues the club's policy of ensuring all their more valuable players are confirmed as long-term assets.
Hernández's agreement follows the announcement on Monday that Tom Cleverley had signed a new four-year deal, meaning United have tied 13 players to contract extensions in the past year. Daniel Welbeck, who has two years to run on his current deal, has also been offered new terms though Dimitar Berbatov's position continues to look vulnerable.
United have not officially announced Hernández's new contract but the club have been keen to finalise terms since the summer, rewarding the Mexican for scoring 20 goals in his first season since signing from Chivas de Guadalajara.
"We have renegotiated Javier's contract and he is now committed for five years with Manchester United," the player's agent, Eduardo Hernández, said. "The initial contract was good for Manchester and for Javier because it enabled them both to see if they could fit together and if he could achieve what was expected of him. Both sides have met their expectations and United were happy to reward Javier after his very good performances last season."
Hernández has been linked with Real Madrid but his representative said there had been no contact from the Spaniards. "It was never likely that Javier would leave. Talks began some time ago and United came up with a very good offer and I have nothing but praise for the way they have recognised Javier's performances.
"I will not talk about numbers, but it is a five-year contract. It is a fixed salary with incentives based on the team's success in each of the different tournaments. Javier was not badly paid with his initial contract, but it was his first contract and, with respect, not comparable with the likes of Wayne Rooney and Nani. But today I can say that the contract has just been signed and everyone is satisfied."
As well as Hernández and Cleverley, United have agreed new deals with Rooney, Rafael, Ryan Giggs, Anderson, Antonio Valencia, Chris Smalling, Park Ji-sung, Michael Owen, Patrice Evra, Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher in the past year.
Berbatov's position is more complicated, with the Bulgarian out of contract at the end of the season. United have a "one‑way option" to extend that by another year whenever they want and the club's chief executive, David Gill, said in the summer that the plan was to keep the player even though he has become increasingly marginalised under Sir Alex Ferguson and did not even make the substitutes' bench for the Champions League final. United must decide whether to do that before January, the alternative being that other clubs can approach him from that point.