Manchester United Transfer Rumours: Red Devils Must Keep Javier Hernandez

If David Moyes wants to make next season as easy a transition as possible, he needs to keep Javier Hernandez in the squad.

The Daily Mirror's Ed Malyon reported Juventus would target the striker in the event they couldn't secure Gonzalo Higuain. Although, the likelihood of the Italian club failing to sign the Real Madrid striker seems to be dwindling as Football Italia noted Higuain is already thinking about playing for Juventus:

Anything can happen when the window is open, though, and it doesn't take very long for a rumour to go from speculation to an actual transfer. If Juventus feel they can possibly attain Hernandez, then a spate of European clubs could consider making a move for the striker as well.

With the signing of Robin van Persie last summer, Chicharito saw his playing time dip a bit. He only appeared in 28 matches across the Premier League and Champions League this season. Should Wayne Rooney remain at the club, Hernandez could want to play in a club where he's got a better chance of regular first-team football.

One of David Moyes' objectives this summer should be not only holding onto Hernandez but also letting him know that he has a big role to play in the squad next season.

In his 22 league appearances, Chicharito scored 10 times. It's important to point out that he only made nine starts. That's a pretty good goalscoring record for a player who came off the bench for 13 of his 22 appearances.

Hernandez is the kind of striker who always seems to end up in a great position to finish, and he's more than capable of finishing with either his head or his feet. At times, it looks like Hernandez has springs on the bottom of his boots in order to jump as high as he does.

Maybe if it happened a couple of times you could chalk it up to luck, but the 25-year-old striker has done it so many times that he's clearly demonstrated an ability to read the game and time his runs in order to do the most damage.

Chicharito has done it with his national team as well. ESPN's Paul Carr noted that he's already fifth on Mexico's goalscoring list:

At his age, Hernandez is just starting to enter into his prime. If you think he's good now, just think where he could be in two or three years. It's not far off to think that he could become one of the best pure goalscorers in the world.

During his time at United, you got the feeling that Sir Alex Ferguson seemed to undervalue the striker's quality. Otherwise, why wouldn't he start and feature in more matches? Rather than that, Ferguson could simply have been trying to placate Rooney and then van Persie.

That's a problem that Moyes might not have to deal with should the speculation regarding Rooney's departure, via Matt Law of the Mirror, prove to have some basis in fact. Should Rooney leave, that would make Hernandez even more important for next season.

Whether Rooney is in this squad or not, Chicharito should have a big part to play for Manchester United next year. That starts with holding on to him this summer.