London, June 9 (IANS): Striker Javier Hernandez is hopeful of resurrecting his career at Manchester United -- but is prepared to head elsewhere for first-team football.

The 27-year-old Mexican spent last season on loan at Real Madrid after being deemed surplus to requirements by new manager Louis van Gaal, who instead brought in Colombian Radamel Falcao on loan.

Hernandez scored nine goals in 33 appearances for Real but the Spanish giants declined the opportunity to make the move permanent and he will report back to United after the CONCACAF Gold Cup in July. Hernandez revealed he has not given up hope of salvaging his United future.

"Last summer it was a different situation. When Van Gaal arrived, he wanted to restructure the team and reduce the number of players," he was quoted as saying by dailymail.co.uk on Monday.

"They weren’t playing in Europe and he preferred to focus on the Premier League. Perhaps he didn’t want many players because we wouldn’t have played, but now the situation is different," Hernandez, who has represented Mexico 72 times, added.

"There will be a Champions League preliminary round to play, which means many more games and I think there might be more opportunities. I think I have more options to play at United next season."

Moreover, van Gaal is in the market for a striker after declining to make misfiring Falcao's switch permanent. Wayne Rooney finished last season as United's top scorer with 14, the lowest club total since Frank Stapleton's 13 in 1982 and Van Gaal often bemoaned his lack of a 20-goal a season man, reports dailymail.co.uk.

With Robin van Persie's future unclear, at least one new frontline arrival is likely and Hernandez, who was a 6 million Euros signing from Chivas de Guadalajara, would like to cash in on the opportunity.

"What any player wants is to play. If that doesn't happen at United, I will look for a team where I will be given more playing time," he said.