Chelsea Transfer News: £83.5m Buyout Clause Challenge From Club President

Pinto Da Costa has admitted that while he hopes Chelsea target Hulk's buyout clause is never met by any club, the Porto president believes that a side could well match the astronomical figure at some point as the Portuguese outfit fight to keep hold of one of their top stars.

The Blues have already taken Andre Villas-Boas from Porto, and the manager has continually been linked to purchases of his former players, with Hulk a commonly mentioned named alongside Alvaro Pereira.

Hulk's agent revealed at the end of December that if he was given the opportunity to work with Villas-Boas at Chelsea, he would jump at the chance, with Theodoro Fonseca telling Portugese radio station TSF: "They [Hulk and Andre Villas-Boas] had a fantastic time at Porto together. The relationship between the two cannot be better."

And now, with Hulk currently holding a reported £83.5 million buyout clause, Da Costa believes that the 25 year old could well be moving to another club before his contract runs out in 2016.

"I hope that nobody meets Hulk's buyout clause, but I would not be surprised if someone pays it one day," he told the Sunday Star.

Chelsea would be likely to meet the clause if they did decide that Hulk could bring the club their inarguable first Champions League trophy. Roman Abramovich has not been the type to baulk at a high fee, with the owner forking out a record £50 million successful bid for Fernando Torres this time last year.

Should Hulk make the move to Chelsea, or any club within Europe, the striker would sport a fee that would break the current world record price for a transfer, currently held by Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

While Chelsea didn't appear in need of a striker last summer, with Nicolas Anelka departing, and Fernando Torres continuing to misfire, the club could be on the lookout for more support up front to help the more inexperienced Romelu Lukaku and Daniel Sturridge.

And Villas-Boas has been open about the fact that if there is a player the side want, money will definitely be available from Abramovich to fund a big transfer.

When asked if he thought finances might be an issue for Chelsea, Villas-Boas responded at the end of last year: "Not in the sense of the amount of money that is available. It has never been a problem in this club, as you know."

With that in mind, Hulk's move to Stamford Bridge could come down to a matter of whether Abramovich thinks the player is worth his fee.