Shanghai SIPG announces Hulk transfer from Zenit
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Shanghai SIPG signed Hulk from Zenit St. Petersburg on Thursday, making the Brazilian forward the first high-profile signing in what is expected to be a mega-spending transfer window in the Chinese Super League.
SIPG did not disclose 29-year-old Hulk's transfer fee, but the $60 million fee reported by Russian media would set a new Asian transfer record, topping the $56 million Jiangsu Suning paid this year for Brazilian Alex Teixeira. Guangzhou Evergrande paid $47 million for Colombia's Jackson Martinez.
Large Chinese conglomerates have snapped up domestic clubs in recent years, giving them dramatically increased spending power.
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In the past year, Chinese teams spent more than $300 million to recruit stars from the European leagues such as Ezequiel Lavezzi and Ramires, spurring talk of an unsustainable bubble.
Shanghai will reportedly pay Hulk $22 million annually, double what his compatriot Neymar, the Brazil captain, makes at Barcelona.
Hulk passed a medical examination at a Shanghai clinic on Wednesday after he was greeted by hundreds of fans at Shanghai's airport. He will join a squad led by former England manager Sven-Goran Ericksson, who is under pressure to improve results after falling 12 points behind league leader Guangzhou Evergrande.
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Hulk, a left-footed striker known for his muscular build and powerful shot, joined Zenit in 2012 from Porto.
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This story has been corrected to show Hulk's age is 29 not 30.