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"Still can't control a ball." "Shocking waste of a great talent." "Thank God." Those were just some of the replies to Manchester United's Twitter account when it confirmed Javier Hernandez had joined Bayer Leverkusen.

The Twitterati is not the most reliable barometer when it comes to a club's support but lilies weren't planted outside Old Trafford to mark Hernandez's departure and the only tears shed were through emojis.

Amid his recent burst, revisionists seem to have forgotten Hernandez signed off his United career with a penalty as bad as Diana Ross'. It prompted an amusing exchange between a startled Louis van Gaal on Ryan Giggs in Bruges. Van Gaal did not have to say anything. 'Time to get rid' was etched on his face and Giggs seemed to agree.

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day and Hernandez's time was up at United. He had started 14 games in two years under David Moyes and Van Gaal, warmed the Bernabeu bench for a year and returned with just 12 months left on his United contract. Typically of United these days, they left his void vacant.

Unlike the majority of departures in the wake of Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement, United made a profit on Hernandez. He was a prolific matchwinner (he netted 23 of them) but, like the majority of the squad Van Gaal dismantled, the Mexican was reliant on Ferguson's influence. The Scot's gift of deriving the maximum out of players as from Robin van Persie to Tom Cleverley was unrivalled and Hernandez was transformed from an unknown quantity into a Real Madrid target within a year under Ferguson's management.

It was apparent, though, less than a year into his United career Hernandez had severe limitations. In the March 2011 Premier League defeat at Chelsea, his play outside of the penalty area contributed to the hosts' resurgence.

The Sideshow Bob lookalike David Luiz brutally poleaxed Hernandez as if he resembled Bart Simpson and Martin Atkinson refereed gutlessly, but Hernandez was a liability in possession. Like Pippo Inzaghi, he was an asset only inside the area. Some United fans wondered if he was born offside.

Ferguson was a freakish phenomenon, so Hernandez thrived and, as a poacher, was one of the most clinical on the continent under the United great. A demanding control freak like Van Gaal was never going to countenance such an unreliable player in possession, however.

"[Hernandez] came into the game and he was involved at once," Van Gaal said after United beat Real Madrid in America last year. "That is very good when you are a substitute. We need that. He scores a wonderful goal - well prepared by Shinji Kagawa and also Fletcher. But during that move, he should have given the ball to Cleverley and he gives it to Kagawa. He needs to thank Kagawa for the nice pass but it would have been better to pass back to Cleverley."

United supporters must despair at that sound bite now. Hernandez, however, was often guilty of making the wrong pass and he was hooked at half-time on the opening day of last season against Swansea, before he was placed in the shop window's bargain bucket at MK Dons. James Wilson's emergence was often cited by United supporters as a reason to sell Hernandez.

He has scored more goals in his last 12 games than United have but Hernandez would toil just as forlornly as Wayne Rooney or Anthony Martial if he was playing under the rigid and joyless Van Gaal. He is now playing for a team that is conducive to his strengths.

Predictably peripheral in Spain, Hernandez is prolific in Germany and, watching an under-strength United lay siege on the Wolfsburg goal, there is a very good reason for his potency. The defences in the Bundesliga are about as secure as Jose Mourinho's future. Jerome Boateng, a City reject, is a starter at Bayern Munich and, in a side who spent less than Aston Villa and Newcastle in the summer transfer window, the pressure and scrutiny on Hernandez at the BayArena is minimal.

Leverkusen are sixth in the Bundesliga, one of the most uncompetitive leagues on the continent, and 19 points behind Bayern Munich.

Hernandez has plenty of time to control a ball.