Maybe it was all about waiting for the Olympic tournament to be over, so he can fully concentrate on bringing a gold medal back to Brazil. Hulk had a good tournament, but failed at the finish line, losing to Mexico 1-2 in the final. Now he feels ready to move on, leave Porto and join a Premier League team, probably Chelsea.
It’s been ongoing for most of this summer until it completely died down. Hulk looked like a sure thing for Chelsea, able to bend Porto from their release clause demands (€100 million) to something around the €35-40 million. But too much money is going to people not involved with the club – Agent and a third side party, meaning Porto were planning on asking for a big sum all along. It didn’t fit Chelsea’s spending plans.
Chances of it actually happening? At the moment, small. The only thing’s that changed over the last couple of months is Hulk finally speaking about it being his time to go and join an English club. Which one? He didn’t mention, but it’s pretty clear who everyone is talking about.
The problem for Hulk and Chelsea is Porto, not so keen on releasing their Brazilian forward after four seasons with the club. According to Pinto da Costa, the club’s president, the only way he’ll be willing to sell his star player is if a team will be willing to pay Hulk’s full release clause amount, €100 million. Without that intention, there’s no use in opening negotiations.
Hulk’s agent tells us a different story – Hulk has a contract, he likes FC Porto, but at the moment everything has a question mark. We sometimes want a player to stay, but the conditions aren’t the best. Sometimes clubs have to give up a right, a player, or a person to keep their structure. People come and go, but the clubs stay. Everything is possible in the world of football.
Even when everyone is saying no, don’t be surprised if the move eventually does come through. Things change quickly in the transfer market, especially with the deadline coming up and clubs like Chelsea desperately looking for another big signing, while Porto don’t want a player who’ll be sulking all season, which might be the case. We might see Hulk playing Premier League football this season; small chance, but we still might.