Hulk

He is strongly built for a footballer and acquired his nickname due to his likeness to actor Lou Ferrigno, who played the Incredible Hulk on the eponymous television show in the 1970s.

Born in Campina Grande, Paraíba, Hulk started playing professionally with Esporte Clube Vitória in Salvador, Bahia, then went on loan to Japan to play for Kawasaki Frontale.

Givanildo Vieira de Sousa (born 25 July 1986), mononymously known as Hulk, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Atlético Mineiro.

Despite having been purchased on 15 January 2006, he was loaned to second division Consadole Sapporo, effective on 1 February, where he played all the 2006 season and scored 25 goals, one less than the top scorer.

In 2007, he was loaned again to a second division team, Tokyo Verdy, where he was even more effective, scoring 37 goals in 42 matches and being the top goal scorer of the season.

He briefly returned to Kawasaki in 2008 and rejoined Verdy after only 18 matches.

After Hulk's stay in Japan, he moved to Portugal to join defending champions Porto, who purchased 50% of his playing rights for €5.5 million from Uruguayan side Rentistas, with the transfer fee being received by an unnamed investor.

When Moroccan teammate Tarik Sektioui suffered an injury, Hulk was given an opportunity to play forward and scored his first official domestic league goal for Porto in a 2–0 home win against C.F. Os Belenenses, later adding against F.C. Paços de Ferreira (same venue and result), both as a second-half substitute.

As the season advanced, he became an undisputed starter, forming an attacking trio with Cristian Rodríguez and Lisandro López, with the trio often shifting positions.

After some stellar performances in the season's UEFA Champions League, he was elected as one of the Top 10 Rising Stars by UEFA.com.

Hulk made his international debut in 2009, and played for Brazil at the 2012 Summer Olympics as one of the three permitted over-age players.

In late August 2009, he extended his contract to June 2014, with a buy-out clause increased to €100 million.

In the 2009–10 season, Hulk established as an automatic first-choice.

However, following a tunnel brawl during the league loss against S.L. Benfica (1–0) on 20 December 2009, he received a four-month ban (if the disciplinary hearing upheld the ban, he faced up to three years on the sidelines), only for the domestic competitions, as did his teammate Cristian Săpunaru.

After starting out professionally with Vitória and then playing three years in Japan, he played several seasons in Portugal with Porto, winning ten titles – including the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League and three national championships.

He was crowned the league's top scorer once.

The ban was later reduced to four matches, and the player returned to league action on 28 March 2010 after missing 3 months and 18 matches, scoring in a 3–0 win at Belenenses.

One week later, he also scored in a 4–1 home victory over C.S. Marítimo.

With six less matches played than the previous season, he ended with five league goals.

Hulk started the 2010–11 season scoring 16 times in his first 16 official matches, including a hat-trick against K.R.C. Genk in the UEFA Europa League play-off stage, on 26 August 2010 (4–2 home win, 7–2 on aggregate).

From September to January, he won the Portuguese Championship Player of the Month, making him the only player to have won the award six times.

On 7 November 2010, he scored the last two goals as Porto trounced Benfica 5–0 at home, creating a ten-point difference between the two teams, with the northerners leading the league, and eventually winning it, with the player leading the goalscoring charts.

On 13 May 2011, Porto paid €13.5 million to Rentistas for another 40% of Hulk's playing rights, bringing their total stake to 85% (Porto sold back 5% after renewing his contract in 2009), with the player signing a new contract valid until 2016 and with a buy-out clause of €100 million.

He finished the season with 36 goals in 53 official matches, with his team winning four major titles, including a league/cup double.

He scored six goals in the following three matches, including a brace in a 2–0 home defeat of Sporting CP, and finished the 2011–12 season with 16 league goals as his team won another national championship.

In 2012, he joined Russian Premier League side Zenit Saint Petersburg for €60 million, winning all three domestic honours and being named the competition's best player and being top scorer, once each.

On 7 April 2012, Hulk scored the solitary goal as Porto defeated S.C. Braga away to go four points clear at the top of the Primeira Liga table.

In May 2012, he was voted the Player of the Month for April for a record sixth time, and he added 11 assists, a competition best.

On 3 September 2012, Hulk completed a transfer of €60 million, with Porto receiving €40 million, to Russian Premier League club FC Zenit Saint Petersburg, reuniting with former Porto teammate Bruno Alves.

This transfer fee caused a lot of debate and a great stir since Mitrofanov, General director from Zenit denied publicly.

Russian media R-Sport even claimed that Mitrofanov had shown the media the sales contract and the fee on the contract was €40 million and not €60 million.

However, Porto also confirmed in its unaudited quarterly report in Q1 2012–13 that the club did not pay for third parties ownership (15%), agent fee nor solidarity contribution (5%), which all normally included in the transfer fee, as in the case of Radamel Falcao.

Hulk scored his first goal for his new club in only his second league match, against FC Krylia Sovetov Samara, finding the net with a trademark shot from outside the box in a 2–2 away draw.

In the second half of September, media speculation reported that teammates Igor Denisov and Aleksandr Kerzhakov were unsatisfied with Hulk's wage, and that they demanded renegotiation of their contracts.

As a result, they were sent to the youth squad.

Denisov replied in an interview with Sport Express stating that his stand-off with club management was over "the proper organisation of the team. And respect for the Russian players which Zenit has always relied upon".

He went on to represent the Brazilian senior team in their 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup victory and fourth-place finish at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

He is described by FIFA's official website as "a direct powerhouse of a centre- or wide-forward who knows his way around the box".

On 17 February 2014, Hulk was ordered to pay a €45,000 fine for assaulting two stewards at the Estádio da Luz.

He was transferred to Shanghai SIPG for an Asian record €58.6 million in 2016.