Leverkusen swoop for Man United striker Hernandez

BERLIN (Reuters) - Bayer Leverkusen have bought Mexico striker Javier Hernandez from Manchester United as they look to plug the gap left by South Korean Son Heung-min who joined Tottenham Hotspur last week.

(Reuters)

"With this transfer we have managed to adapt our squad to the big challenges of the coming months," Leverkusen chief executive Michael Schade said in a statement on Monday.

"After qualifying for the Champions League (group stage) we wanted to set a marker and we've managed to do that with Javier Hernandez."

No fee was disclosed but media reports put it at 13 million euros ($14.57 million).

The 27-year-old Hernandez, who joined United in 2010 but spent last season on loan at Real Madrid, has signed a contract that will keep him at the Bundesliga club until 2018.

Leverkusen beat Lazio 3-1 on aggregate to qualify for the Champions League group stage where they will face Barcelona, AS Roma and BATE Borisov.

($1 = 0.8921 euros)

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Tony Jimenez)