Brazilian striker Hulk is about to complete his fourth season with FC Porto, winning the title for the third time in four seasons while scoring 16 goals this year for the club in the league. Despite not receiving any concrete offers yet, it seems Hulk is ready to move on to bigger and better.
There were rumors earlier in the season regarding a potential move to Anzhi Makhachkala, who are slowly turning into a juggernaut in Russia, thanks to the Suleyman Kerimov funding. Hulk has a release clause of €100 million, and some suggested Kerimov was willing to pay as much as €80 to land the 25 year old player.
Other rumors suggest Chelsea and PSG are both on the lookout for an opportunity to sign him, but again, nothing serious has yet to be announced. Hulk himself has spoken about feeling ready to move on. In truth, there’s not much else he can hope to achieve with the club after dominating in the league and winning the Europa League in 2011.
No one has contacted me, also because I do not get involved in such situations. I have an agent and he handles such things for me. If something must happen, he will find what is best for me. Thanks to God, I am fine in Portugal and I am still motivated. Every year, a lot is speculated about my exit.
I am in my fourth year at Porto, I am focused on this club and I have four years left on my contract. If I have to leave, it will certainly be a good move. If I have to leave for one of the big leagues, I would do it happily.
Although it’s hard to find a club as consistently good as Porto are for almost two decades, including three European titles, money always beats the offer of more titles and the prospect to actually build something great, with aspirations reaching higher than what people usually expect from a Portuguese champion.
Hulk has scored 52 league goals for Porto in four season, vastly improving his tally since moving from the right wing to centre forward. He is not fully owned by Porto, who hold 85% of the shares for the players. Some 15% still belong to Uruguayan club Rentistas, who are probably a front from some third party investor. Hulk has never played for that club.