Javier Hernandez told he can leave Manchester United for Bayer Leverkusen - reports

Jason Burt of the Telegraph has reported that Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has told Mexican striker he can leave the club before the end of the transfer window.

Louis Van Gaal has told Javier Hernandez he can leave @ManUtd before window closes on Tuesday. More on @TeleFootball

— Jason Burt (@JBurtTelegraph) August 29, 2015

This move could mean a couple of things. One, it may mean that Van Gaal has seen enough of Hernandez to think that he cannot rival James Wilson or Marouane Fellaini as the second striker, or that Memphis Depay might even be a better option. Hernandez embarrassingly missed a penaly against Club Brugge in the week, visibly frustrating both Van Gaal and assistant manager Ryan Giggs.

It could also mean that United have identified a striking replacement for Hernandez elsewhere. There are few targets who are left available in the market, so any name could be a surprise candidate, or an option that United earlier passed over. The options would appear to be: Thomas Muller, Harry Kane, Edinson Cavani, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Felipe Anderson and Gareth Bale. Not all of them are traditional strikers, but Van Gaal might be prepared to take that risk.

Hernandez spent last year on loan at Real Madrid, where he could not convince the club to make the deal permanent. Burt continues to push Sadio Mane as a supposed target for United.