Manchester United legend Javier Hernandez has revealed he is still paying off millions of pounds in debt following his divorce from model Sarah Kohan, describing the financial burden of what he called a “mind-blowingly luxurious life” for his children.
The 38-year-old former striker, who scored 59 goals in 157 appearances for Manchester United and also played for Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen and West Ham, said he continues to provide for his children after the pair split in 2020.
Monthly support demands
US website TMZ Sports claimed that Kohan demanded £73,000 a month for child and spousal support.
“Ever since my divorce, I've had a huge debt to pay off every year, a debt that no one sees,” Hernandez said on the show La Mesa Caliente.
“My children will never lack anything, they've never lacked anything at all, but I trusted them in a way that allowed them to take advantage of a very painful situation.”
Struggles with seeing his children
Hernandez has previously opened up about struggling to see his children after the separation.
“My children aren't with me, I can't see them 24/7. I talk to them on the phone, and if I'm working, sometimes I can't even see them on the call,” he added, claiming that during the separation he felt “a lot of anger, a lot of arrogance, a lot of pain.”
He attributed some of his behaviour to being away from his children and the changes he experienced in his personal life after the divorce.
Personal struggles and family loss
Hernandez admitted that the cracks in his marriage had been partly caused by him not being the best partner he could be and revealed how he had also battled depression, triggered by personal turmoil including the loss of his cherished grandfather.
“I wasn't the best partner I needed to be,” Hernandez admitted to The Ringer. “I wasn't the greatest dad that I wanted to be. I wasn't a great friend. I wasn't the great human being I wanted to be.”
Hernandez's sister Ana Silvia, discussing the passing of their former professional footballer grandfather Tomas Balcazar, claimed: “It kind of broke him”.
She said: “I don't know how he managed to get through that season. It was like all his world collapsed in a minute.”
Hernandez admitted the bad place the passing of his “second father” left him in mentally, revealing he lost the motivation to wake up, eat and even make his bed and would weep while training alone during the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking in 2023, Hernandez said it was difficult not being able to see his children regularly, after the separation from his wife Sarah. He said: “I was terrified to make the decision that the marriage was not where it should be and that we had to look for another way and that it could not happen, because I knew that these prices could come.”
Hernandez is still plying his trade for newly-founded USL Championship side Atletico Dallas, possibly to keep the money flowing.
