Reports: Hulk considering new Porto deal with reduced buyout

The less reliable section of twitter and the tabloids in Europe have been a bit quiet on the Hulk to Chelsea front for a bit, but today we actually have a little bit of relevant news. I'm not sure about the credibility of their "aide", but there are also newspaper sources with a bit of info as well. FC Porto have had supposedly received a monstrous bid for their Brazilian winger, but that bid apparently didn't come from England. Zenit St. Petersburg have reportedly offered €50 million to acquire the services of Hulk, but Hulk doesn't seem all that keen on a move to Russia.

The reports would both seem to indicate that Hulk isn't overly happy with the idea of moving to Russia, but that he still wants a move to the Premier League. That makes sense, as Hulk is 25 and still hasn't played in one of the top clubs in Europe. If what they report is true, he'd be willing to sign a new deal with a more reasonable buyout clause to facilitate that move in the future. That would seemingly eliminate any move in this window though, as Porto would likely insist that the winger remain with the club for the season in exchange for the reduced buyout.

Where Chelsea stand in all of this would be a bit unclear. They still lack depth at center forward, but Hulk plays primarily on the wing. Chelsea have added three, maybe four, players this window that can reasonably play on the wings, in addition to Ryan Bertrand, Ramires, and Juan Mata still being with the club. While Hulk seems to be making strides in an attempt to make a move to England more reasonable, Chelsea would seemingly have very little need for his services anymore.

There just under one hundred hours remaining in the transfer window, and at this point it would seem that a move to Chelsea would be next to impossible. I'm sure we'll hear rumblings about Hulk and Chelsea from some of the less reputable sources covering the sport anyway, but personally I'd be very surprised if we even speak with the Portuguese outfit between now and the end of the window. Hulk made an awful lot of sense in May when these rumors first started, but at this point he just doesn't fill any sort of pressing need.