Grateful Hernandez ready to entertain at Port Vale

Port Vale winger Onel Hernandez says he is "thankful" to be back at the club and promises fans that he will do his best to entertain them this season as they aim for League Two promotion.

The Cuban, 33, spent the last three months of the 2025-26 season at Vale, making seven of his 11 appearances from the bench after being picked up as a free agent, and was told he could return providing he proved his fitness.

Hernandez said some had doubts over whether he would regain full sharpness - but he did not.

"I knew the whole summer that I would come back," he told BBC Radio Stoke. "Obviously people thought, 'No,' everyone was like sceptical about it, but I knew from the first minute. I'm thankful to be back and very happy."

Hernandez said it was "difficult" when he first arrived at Vale in February because of a "lack of a proper pre-season" after leaving Norwich City at the end of the 2024-25 season.

After a short spell training with Sheffield Wednesday, he joined Charlton Athletic in September last year but only played six times in the first five months of the campaign.

"I got straightaway put in hot water, playing football without even being prepared for that, especially wing-back," he said. "So I played a few games, but straightaway I got somehow injured and then that killed me a bit.

"That obviously took me out for one, two months and then they didn't get me a new deal, and then obviously I came to Vale and we've been working very hard."

Hernandez, who played in Germany prior to joining Norwich, said a meeting with Vale boss Jon Brady put the finishing touches to his return to Burslem.

"The conversation with the gaffer was, 'Come here and show me how you are,' and that's it," he said.

"I was running in good shape, I knew that. I told him that on the phone and he just wanted to see how I am, just wanted to check in.

"I came one day and he just checked my body, how I was and everything and they have been surprised straight away."

Hernandez said he feels so good he has to remind himself how old he is.

"I'm 34 next year. I don't feel like that. I think something must be wrong with my passport," he said.

"I asked my mom all the time, 'Can you check on my passport, if everything's right?' because my body has not given up.

"I played with a lot of experienced players and they're all like, 'Wait until you get to my age,' and I'm now that age and I feel absolutely fine.

"I feel I want to compete with young guys. We've got a lot of talented young footballers here. I have the same passion for football and I have this fire in myself that probably comes from the Cuban nature, but I have to inspire myself."

One thing Vale fans can expect from Hernandez is some fun and flair.

His penchant to have a pack of sweets by the pitch has already caused some amusement at the Vale training ground and he said he enjoys being a bit eccentric.

"I feel like I've been, all my life, like a bit an entertainer with all the things that I do," he added.

"I feel like just being the simple footballer that everyone is these days, it's a bit boring.

"You're here to entertain the people. They pay a lot of money to come and watch so I want not just to be good on the pitch, but outside the pitch and everywhere I go - try to be a bit different than everyone else.

"If you like a pack of Skittles, when everyone like smiles and say, 'What is this guy doing?' I just love it.

"It's not something bad because at the end of the day it's just energy. Some people eat a banana at half-time, some have just a drink. For me, I like sweets. Maybe next time I put a chocolate bar in there. I don't know."

Vale begin life back in League Two away to Oldham Athletic on 15 August and hope to bounce straight back up after last season's relegation.

It will be Hernandez's first experience of the fourth tier but said he knows what to expect.

"There's no difference for me. Games will be still tough. No-one gives you a win. But I think, with the players we've got, we will definitely compete.

"We will put everything out there. I will try my best. I will bring myself in the best shape I can to just attack that league. That's one thing that I work for - bringing the club back to League One."