Should Chelsea buy Hulk?

Due to the departures of Salomon Kalou and Didier Drogba this summer, Chelsea only have  three centre forwards in their squad at time of writing. These three consist of Daniel Sturridge, Fernando Torres and Romelu Lukaku, which could get cut to two if Lukaku goes out on loan like many are recommending. There is no question that Chelsea need another striker, but is Hulk the right man to buy? In the following article, I’ll be looking at the Brazilian striker’s positives and negatives.

Hulk, whose real name is Givanildo Vieira de Souza joined FC Porto in 2008 and from very early on in his time at Porto, he set Portugal’s primiera Liga alight, and by the end of his first season at the club, he was firmly established as one of Porto’s most important players. Despite serving a four game ban during the 2009/10 season for his part in a tunnel brawl during Porto’s match with rivals Benfica, Hulk’s continued to impress, with the forward scoring 10 goals and getting 11 assists in 31 matches. The 2010/11 season saw Hulk’s stock rise dramatically with the Brazilian forming a superb partnership with Colombian striker Radamel Falcao. The dynamic duo of the livewire Falcao and the powerful Hulk went a long way to helping Porto secure a Europa league and Primiera league double.

The season just gone however has undoubtedly been Hulk’s best and it has had to be due to Falcao leaving at the end of the 2010/11 season. Hulk has bought a great deal of attention to himself due to his numerous excellent performances with him contributing 21 goals and 15 assists in just 38 games. Hulk’s importance to Porto cannot be understated and without him, Porto may well not have been Portugal’s most successful team during this time. His power, presence and determination would definitely give Chelsea a potential replacement for Drogba.

However, despite all his accolades some have accused Hulk of being an average fish in a small pond in the Portuguese league, and that he isn’t good enough to make the step up to the EPL, La Liga or even Serie A at this stage, and it’s easy to see why. After all, Hulk has never scored in a competitive match for Brazil and has only been deemed worthy of playing 13 times for Brazil at a time where his nations aren’t exactly blessed with many strikers. Also, Hulk’s performances against top teams such as Manchester City and Zenit St. Petersburg have been largely underwhelming. Is this really the resume of a £30 million striker?

Conclusion

To answer the question in the article’s title: not quite. Although Hulk has dominated many opposition defences in Portugal, he hasn’t quite done enough on a higher level to justify the rumoured price tag. If Chelsea bought him for £20 million would I be ok with it? Yes, but with financial fair play supposedly coming into play soon, Chelsea can’t afford to through away £30 million on a player who could very well suffer the same fate as the likes of past Chelsea signings Andriy Shevchenko and Hernan Crespo. Instead, I’d rather Chelsea make a bid for a more proven striker such as Radamel Falcao or Edison Cavani.