Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez has exceeded all expectations for Bayer Leverkusen on and off the pitch, the club's CEO Michael Schade told a business summit at the Bay-Arena.
Hernandez joined Leverkusen from Manchester United this summer and has since netted 10 goals in 14 appearances in all competitions for Bayer, with eight of those strikes coming in his last six games.
Schade said the Mexico international -- a potential January target for Chelsea -- has boosted all aspects of the club.
"He's a legend in Mexico," the Leverkusen CEO said. "He has exceeded all of our expectations -- and [club owners] the Bayer group's as well."
While sporting director Rudi Voller has said the 27-year-old was not signed for marketing reasons, Hernandez's signing made a major impact to the club's social media accounts, with Leverkusen recently launching a Spanish language account on Twitter to cater to the interest.
Schade said Hernandez has proved to be "a completely carefree commercial package" for Leverkusen.
However, the club are struggling to meet their targets on the field at the moment, with just one win in their last five Bundesliga games and only one win from their four Champions League group games to date.
Speaking to Bundelisga.de following Leverkusen's 2-1 home defeat to local rivals Cologne, Hernandez said that all is not lost for Bayer, who have dropped to eighth in the Bundesliga.
"We're very disappointed," said Chicharito, who levelled 33 minutes into the Cologne match. "It's like I've always said, when we win we're not the best team in the world, and now that we've lost we're not the worst team in the world either.
"We need to be calm because the results are coming. We have the opportunity to win our next two games in the Champions League [at BATE Borisov and at home to Barcelona] and there's still a long way to go in the Bundesliga."