‘Summer’s Most Wanted’ – Hulk

A few weeks ago I wrote about Porto’s striking sensation Radamel Falcao and how he was being chased by most of Europe’s top clubs. Now I’m going to focus on Falcao’s striking partner, the Brazilian international Givanildo Vieira de Souza, or as he is better known, Hulk.

The 23 year old striker was given the nickname Hulk when he was in Japan with Tokyo Verdy, who loved him of his fantastic goalscoring feats, muscular build and resemblance to the actor Lou Ferrigno, who played the comic book hero in the 1970’s TV series.

Manchester United have been linked with a £20 million move for Hulk in the summer, with Sir Alex Ferguson a known admirer of the Brazilian. Arsenal have also been linked with the striker, who has a £88 million release clause in his contract, but it would not cost anywhere near that much to sign him from Porto, who spent £5.4 million to sign him in 2008.

So what is all the fuss about Hulk? Most of the interest in the Brazilian is partly because of his nickname, partly because of his talent. Hulk is known for his strength and stocky build, and possesses great speed, acceleration, dribbling ability and a powerful shot. He has represented Brazil on two occasions and has scored 2 goals in 12 games for Porto in the league this season, and a further 3 goals in the Champions League.

A word of warning: don’t make Hulk mad - you won’t like it. The Brazilian had a Bruce Banner moment last December, after he took his rage out on a match steward in the game against Benfica and earned himself a four month domestic ban. Hulk is still eligible to play in European competition and started in the game against Arsenal this week, but it didn’t do his reputation any good as Porto were humiliated by the brilliance of Arsenal.

Porto are known to sell off their best assets, as they did with Lisandro Lopez, Lucho Gonzalez and Aly Cissokho, selling them all to French clubs last summer for big money. The likes of Anderson, Pepe, Bosingwa and Ricardo Quaresma have been sold by the Portuguese giants in recent years.

It is likely that Hulk will move in the summer, with a host of top clubs interested in signing the Brazilian. Old Trafford would be an interesting destination for the striker: imagine a front line of Hulk and Shrek destroying opponents with their power, speed and skill.

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