Bayer Leverkusen striker Javier Hernandez has admitted his lack of playing time at Real Madrid was not easy for him having previously struggled for chances at Manchester United, but he is loving life in the Bundesliga.

Hernandez left United for a one-year loan spell at Madrid in 2014-15, but the Santiago Bernabeu side opted against making the deal permanent after just seven starts in LaLiga.

The 28-year-old has impressed since his move to the Bundesliga, though, and he believes getting regular first-team action again has been key to his success at Leverkusen.

"I am playing more, I am making more minutes," Hernandez told El Pais.

"I got very few opportunities at Madrid. It was very difficult for me. I hardly got any game time during the first half of my time there. I repaid the faith shown in me during the second bit of my spell at Madrid.

"At Manchester United, meanwhile, I had the fourth-best goal-per-minutes ratio in the history of the Premier League.

"That's why I think the only reason things are going so well for me at Bayer Leverkusen is that I get regular first-team football now.

"I do not miss Spain to be honest. I miss my loved ones who are living in Mexico. But I have been relatively happy everywhere I lived. I am very happy in Germany now. And when things go well on the pitch, everything else goes much easier as well." 

Hernandez has netted four goals in as many Bundesliga appearances this campaign, after 17 in 28 last season.