Chelsea signed Hulk for $58 million

After spending about $3.5 billion in buying and paying players and coaches since taking over English Premier League club Chelsea nine years ago, Roman Abramovich is still spending. The Russian billionaire owner has just signed Brazilian international forward ‘Hulk’ from Portuguese club Porto for a cost of approximately $58 million. Both teams have agreed to the transfer and the player just needs to pass a physical before all the paperwork can be put to bed.

It’s believed that Chelsea won’t have any problem paying Hulk’s wages and the 25-year-old will be set to play in August when the new season gets underway. It was reported that Hulk had an escape clause in his contract which would allow him to leave if another team paid 100 million Euros for him (US$123 million). However, Chelsea was the only team to put in a serious bid and Porto was willing to let him go at a 50 per cent discount.

In case you’re wondering, the right winger/striker’s given name is Givanildo Vieira de Souza, but was given his nickname because he looks like actor Lou Ferrigno, who portrayed the Incredible Hulk on television. Abramovich also splashed out close to $50 million a few days earlier when he signed 21-year-old midfielder Eden Hazard from French club Lille. Hazard is a Belgian international attacking midfielder who was also being courted by Manchester City and Manchester United.

But while Chelsea is busy signing more players, the club still doesn’t have a permanent manager in place. Roberto Di Matteo took over during the season on an interim basis after Andre Vilas Boas was fired. Di Matteo then took the club on an incredible ride by beating Liverpool 2-1 in the FA Cup and taking out German team Bayern Munich in a penalty shootout to be crowned the European Champions League winners.

Chelsea has lost some players since the end of the season though, as striker Didier Drogba announced he was leaving to play in China and the team also released forward Salomon Kalou and fullback Jose Bosingwa. Abramovich has gone down this road before though, when he signed striker Fernando Torres from Liverpool for a few million dollars more than he bought Hulk for. However, Torres has proven to be a bust at Chelsea so far with just 12 goals in 67 games.

Hulk brings a good scoring record with him, but so did Torres. The Brazilian had 57 goals for Porto over the past two seasons in 91 games and set up another 36. It’s believed he will replace Drogba in Chelsea’s lineup, but may play more as a winger while Torres gets another chance to prove his worth by playing as a center forward.

Chelsea attempted to buy hulk last year, but Porto wouldn’t budge on their initial asking price. Porto had the option of keeping him, but he could have walked away for nothing as a free agent at the end of next season. It’s been reported that Hulk’s weekly salary with Chelsea will be close to $200,000 a week.