Hulk confident SIPG will achieve their first title in 2018
The Brazilian striker is keen to deliver a trophy to the big-spending Chinese club this season after a 12-season wait for glory.
Brazilian striker Hulk told Chinese media that he is determined to deliver a trophy to Shanghai SIPG in the upcoming Chinese Super League (CSL) campaign.
The 31-year-old striker believes that newly appointed coach Vítor Pereira can lead the club to their first crown.
Despite the huge amounts of money spent, SIPG have yet to win a trophy. Throughout 12 years of history, the big-spending Shanghai team has never achieved a major title.
Their biggest success was finishing as runners-up in the 2015 and 2017 CSL seasons.
Last season, SIPG were also forced to settle for the runners-up medals in the Chinese FA Cup and also reached the semi-finals of the Asian Champions League.
Hulk: “I'm desperate to win a championship"
The Brazilian forward, who moved to Shanghai for a €55 million fee from Zenit St Petersburg in the summer of 2016, spoke to Chinese media about his desire to achieve a trophy with SIPG.
“I've been with SIPG a year and a half now and I'm desperate to win a championship,” he told Chinese media. “I hope we can do it in the new season. I'll try 100 per cent to help my team and my team mates.”
Hulk also spoke about SIPG’s incoming coach, former Porto, Olympiacos and Fenerbahçe boss Pereira.
“I know Pereira well,” Hulk said. “He's a very good coach who is ambitious. He has been keeping us on the right track on a daily basis and I hope his leadership can improve our results.
“Now there's a great atmosphere in the team. It's nice to have this kind of atmosphere at the start of the season and it will put us in a good frame of mind going into the New Year. Hopefully God will bless us with a great year and better achievements.”
New rules on foreign players in the CSL
New rules in the CSL oversee the use of foreign players. As of this season, teams won’t be allowed to field more than three non-national players in each game.
Also, coaches will be forced to select the same number of Chinese uner-23 players as the non-Chinese players in their starting line-up.
“As far as the international competition between the foreign players in the team is concerned, it will be a difficult choice for the coach but it will be a good thing for the team because we have a good pool of players to choose from,” Hulk said.