Zenit St. Petersburg forward Givanildo Vieira De Souza “Hulk” has been linked (rather, rumoured with a move after he posted a picture of himself on a plane to London with the message: “Going to work in London. With my manager and friend # Teo”) to Premier League table toppers Chelsea in the summer.
So here are three reasons why it is a wrong move.
Hulk’s market value is highly inflated thanks to the high price that Zenit paid to Porto in order to take the big Brazilian to Russia. However, Hulk doesn’t have a goal-scoring record that justifies that price tag. This season, Hulk has scored 13 goals in 24 appearances for Zenit but of that, 9 have come in the Russian Premier League, which is in no way on par with the Premier League or other European leagues.
In the Champions League, he has managed only 3 goals in 7 appearances which includes the goal he scored against Borussia Dortmund from the penalty spot a couple of weeks back. If he cannot score on a regular basis against the top continental sides, can he really be expected to lead the line for Chelsea who are in need for a proven goal-scorer? And to add to that, his shot accuracy is a meager 54%, which is even less than that of Torres and Eto’o.
Hulk is billed as a strong player who can bulldoze past opponent and take on defenses on his own, and the highlight reel will attest to that fact. However, the numbers portray a very different picture. For all the brawn that he possesses, he has very poor numbers as far as the take-ons are concerned – he has won only 36% of the 101 take-on he has attempted in the Russian league in 15 appearances this season.
While the numbers do point that he is willing to take on players quite often, the poor success rate would certainly be a red flag for Chelsea manger Jose Mourinho who despises giving away the possession cheaply. Mourinho would rather prefer that his team keeps hold of the ball and use it intelligently than have a headless chicken lead the line.
Hulk is primarily a wing forward who can also play as a center forward when required. So, prima facie he is not a player that Chelsea require to invest in right now. While Hulk certainly can lead the line, it is not his primary strength. He is at his best when he is starting in a wider role on the right and then running at defenders.
However, Chelsea already have the likes of Willian and Schurrle filling in that role and Schurrle is also a man who can play upfront if required. So, even though Chelsea could certainly do with Hulk’s versatility, he is more of a man who is more likely to fill in as the central striker rather than lead the line every week against top class defenses.
Stats taken from squawka
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