Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez would have 20 goals for Man United - Mou
Jose Mourinho has spoken once again of his regret at Manchester United's decision to sell Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez in August 2015 by claiming that the Mexico forward would have scored at least 20 goals for the club this season.
Hernandez, 28, was sold to Bayer Leverkusen for just £7.3 million by former United manager Louis van Gaal after failing to impress the Dutchman during his first season in charge at Old Trafford.
Mourinho admitted last month that he would never have sold the likes of Chicharito, Danny Welbeck and Angel di Maria -- all dispensed with by Van Gaal -- had he been in charge of United at the time.
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But with United scoring a mere 43 goals in the Premier League this season, and only Zlatan Ibrahimovic hitting double figures in the league, Mourinho believes that a "killer" like Chicharito would have added crucial firepower to his team this term.
"We have good players, they are creative players, they can create, but they are not the kind of guy that is naturally a killer," Mourinho said.
"I give a simple example -- in the way we play at Old Trafford, in the way we dominate opponents, in the way we play in the box, I think Chicharito would have scored 20 goals easy.
"Even coming from the bench for the last 10 or 20 minutes, he would have 20 goals.
"He is the guy that naturally the ball comes here, rebound here, rebounds there, boom, goal.
"The goalkeeper saves, he goes there, boom, goal. The cross is coming, he anticipates the first-post header, goal.
"I think Zlatan's number of goals [27] is a number for every striker.
"I think all the others, and I am not just speaking about the strikers, I am speaking about the attacking players with freedom, they have to reach always reach a certain number of goals which, when added between them, means a lot of victories, a lot of points, but no-one has reached that level."
After Ibrahimovic, the injured Juan Mata is United's second-highest goalscorer with 10 goals in all competitions this season.
Paul Pogba has scored seven, with Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Wayne Rooney mustering only 19 between them.
But while Mourinho admits that the spread of goals has not been good enough, he believes that luck has also gone against his team.
"I think, clearly, if you go for example of Pogba, the number of posts [hit] are almost Guinness Book of Records and some of them would be amazing goals.
"I remember a couple of direct free kicks hitting the post, they would have been amazing goals, you had lots of beautiful actions.
"It is not a problem of quality at all, it is a problem of luck.
"Many goalkeepers have become phenomenal at Old Trafford, so I think you give credit for the goalkeeper. We also have some players that are not really players in love with the goal."
Mark Ogden is a senior football writer for ESPN FC. Follow him @MarkOgden_
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