TRANSFER RUMOURS: Hulk to Chelsea, Ginter to Arsenal, Damiao to Tottenham Hotspur

Hulk to sign for Chelsea

12/8/12 – Hulk: “I have left a door open for being transferred to another league. I have preference for playing in the Premier League or the Spanish Liga, because they are the two leagues that are the most seen all over the world.”

3/9/12 – Hulk signs for Zenit Saint Petersburg from Porto for €60m.

26/9/12 – Hulk: “I think I’ll adapt eventually, but no doubt the fact they speak a different language in Russia creates some difficulties. Still, I feel the atmosphere is great at the team. I’m happy for playing for Zenit, absolutely everyone supports me. I’m trying to adapt to the team and to Zenit in general as soon as possible”.

5/12/12 – Hulk: “I feel well in St Petersburg, my family is happy and my son, too. But if the situation with Luciano Spalletti doesn’t improve, I might leave in January. I don’t know if Italy will be my destination, but anything can happen.”

30/5/12 – Teodoro Fonseca, Hulk’s agent: “There are two great teams of the Premier League to have made their interest known. It is normal that such news would arise because it was with Andre Villas-Boas and Porto where Hulk had his best time. The future of Hulk is with Zenit, but I have never made such statements [about Monaco], I have not spoken to anyone from France.”

6/6/13 – Reports that Chelsea have made a £35m offer for Hulk

Matthias Ginter to sign for Arsenal

24/1/12 – Matthias Ginter graduates from Freiburg’s academy and signs a deal which is set to expire in 2015.

30/4/13 – Christian Streich, Freigburg manager: “There is no doubt he will be staying on. Matthias has a contract with our club. A long-term one. In addition, he is also of the same opinion. He is having the good sense to agree to this. We are definitely not letting anyone else make our very own decisions.”

6/6/13 – Reports claim that Arsenal will make a £5m offer for Ginter.

Leandro Damiao to Tottenham Hotspur

11/6/11 – Damiao linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur with Harry Redknapp revealing he is an admirer of the player.

11/7/11 – Damiao signs a new 5-year-deal with Internacional.

17/11/11 – Sivori & Asociados spokesman, Damio’s agent: “The big clubs wait to take player like him, to be sure that a player does well, that he can prove himself. In January, Damiao would cost less than now, but was still considered a risk. Now Damiao has important requests: there is a good offer of Tottenham, one from Arsenal and even some Spanish clubs are sounding out Internacional. It’s normal: he’s a striker born in 1989, he attracts a lot interest. It should be considered, however, that he has the non-EU passport.”

19/2/12 – Damiao – “I am not aware of anything for an offer from Paris SG. I have had no contact with PSG or Leonardo [sporting director]. For now, I think about my club and the Copa Libertadores. In July, if a proposal comes, it will be discussed. All that I know is that Tottenham have made an offer.”

31/5/12 – Giovanni Luigi, Internacional president: “For Damiao we never received official offers from Italy, only informal contacts, no proposals on paper. The only bids were received from Tottenham and PSG, but we rejected them because our intention and hope is to keep the player at least until December 2012.”

14/6/12 – Damiao: “I’ve got Tottenham’s proposal, but Inter thought I’d better stay. I will try to reach the World Cup playing for Inter. But have to wait for the window to pass and close.”

28/8/12 – Luciano Davi, Internacional vice-president: “Our intention is that Leandro Damiao doesn’t leave this year. He is an Internacional player until December. Their offer wasn’t relevant and we are not interested in selling him. Tottenham came to us but their offer didn’t match our valuation of him. Leandro Damiao is a national team striker and we have to value that.”

10/1/13 – Andre Villas-Boas, Tottenham Hotspur manager: “Leandro is a player we’ve always appreciated, that this club appreciated before I arrived, but it’s extremely difficult that he’s going to join Tottenham. He’s a player that is highly rated in the market, and it’s unlikely that he will play for Tottenham.”

1/2/13 – Marcelo Medeiros, Internacional’s director: “Leandro Damiao won’t leave, the offer was below what we wanted. He is under contract with Internacional and will remain our player.”

2/6/13 – Damiao: “I know of Tottenham’s interest in me but I am happy to wait until the president of my club lets me know something official. I would prefer to play in a team that is in the Champions League, but the most important thing is that they share the same ambition that I have.”

4/6/13 – Vinicius Prates, Damiao’s agent: “With the improvement he has been showing I think he is mature enough to leave, he is ready to play in Europe. Leandro Damiao’s dream is to play the World Cup. If he leaves, it will be to a big club, he is under contract until 2016 and the club gives him every condition for him to achieve that dream. Our idea is to always work with big clubs, all players dream of playing in the Champions League. But Tottenham are an important club in London, we can’t rule them out.”