Chelsea target Hulk joins Zenit St Petersburg

ST PETERSBURG, Russia  ●   Zenit St Petersburg have announced the signing of Hulk from FC Porto, who rejected a €50 million offer for the forward last week.

The forward had long been linked with a switch to Chelsea, and had also interested Tottenham, but Porto’s asking price – in excess of £40 million – proved a stumbling block.

On Wednesday, Porto president Pinto da Costa reacted to reports that Zenit had pulled the plug on a deal to sign Hulk by claiming his club had snubbed a big-money offer.

“It was Porto who rejected €50 million for Hulk from Zenit,” Da Costa said. “I think it is ridiculous to hear that Zenit’s board did not sanction such an offer when two of their chiefs were here to present that exact bid for the player.”

Hulk, 26, joined Porto from Japanese side Tokyo Verdy and scored 54 goals in 103 league matches after signing in 2008.

●  Galatasaray are keen to lure Manchester City defender Kolo Toure away from the Etihad Stadium before the Turkish transfer window closes.

Toure has less than one year left on his deal at City, and has struggled to hold down a first-team place, with boss Roberto Mancini preferring to pair Joleon Lescott and Vincent Kompany at centre-back.

Mancini moved to bring in Matija Nastajic from Fiorentina on Friday, further limiting Toure’s chances of game time, and it seems Galatasaray may now offer him an exit route.

“We have to bring someone in, obviously a defender,” Galatasaray boss Fatih Terim said. “We’re interested in Kolo Toure from Manchester City. We can ask help from [Emmanuel] Eboue [who played with Toure at Arsenal] if we need.”

Toure, who has won the Premier League at two different clubs, made the move to City from Arsenal in 2009 for a fee of £16 million.