TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Report

Is it that time of year already? The perennial wave of reports linking Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez to MLS are upon us, except this time the interest is coming straight from Austin FC owner Anthony Precourt.

Austin, who will join MLS in 2021, are now public with their interest in the Mexico star and will work to recruit him.

“Chicharito would be pretty special,” Precourt told Austin’s Soccer Pod. “I’d be as excited as anyone. That’s the type of player we’ll target, and we’ll give our best pitch. I think he’s got a year left on his contract at West Ham and I think there’s other clubs that are rumored to be looking at him in MLS. We’ll certainly be active in trying to recruit him in the years to come.”

Chicharito, 31, got his career started at Chivas Guadalajara before moving to Manchester United, where he enjoyed the most memorable years of his career. He scored 59 goals in 157 appearances across all competitions despite more than half of his Premier League appearances coming off the bench.

He spent a year at Real Madrid, where he similarly made his mark as a supersub, before moving to Bayer Leverkusen for a more regular starting role, scoring 39 goals in 79 appearances. Chicharito moved to West Ham, where he has spent the last two seasons with the East London club, scoring 15 goals in 53 league appearances (30 starts).

Could MLS be next?