In his final days in charge, Chelsea’s now former manager said he intended to bring the star to Stamford Bridge this summer. What now?
You could argue that it may have been a last ditch attempt by Villas-Boas to save his job, to show that he did indeed have a long-term plan to improve Chelsea.
Now the chances of Porto star Hulk pitching up in Chelsea colours next season are seemingly slimmer, and it is hard to argue otherwise.
Villas-Boas managed Hulk at Porto for the 2010-11 season, and the player had a key role in Porto winning a domestic double, plus the Europa League, scoring 36 goals along the way.
This season the player has only managed 13 so far, and would surely have loved the opportunity to be re-united with Villas-Boas. The manager had said that his personal relationship with Porto’s president could be key to clinching the deal.
He can play as a striker or a winger, and before he departed, AVB said he would like to sign Hulk to replace Malouda and Kalou.
So now he has been sacked by Roman Abramovich, any prospective transfer has been dealt a big blow, but that does not mean it should be discounted altogether.
Kalou and Malouda most probably will still depart when the season ends, and Chelsea will naturally be in the market for replacements.
There remain few better than Hulk, and if he is looking for a move, Chelsea may be one of the few clubs able to stump up the required cash.
He would surely be on the radar of any new manager, as one of the best players in Europe, and Roman Abramovich will have to give his new man several millions to spend.
One potential spanner in the works, is the prospect of Andre Villas-Boas landing a new job at a big European club, Inter Milan is a possibility, and making a bid. How sweet that would be for him, to get one up on the club which gave him the sack.
For now the deal seems to be off, but it was never really fully on, just a stated intention from Chelsea’s now former manager, but that is not to say it won’t be ‘on’ this summer.
Do you think Chelsea should still pursue a deal for Hulk, or look elsewhere for targets?
image: © *dirk
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