Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is exploring the prospect of landing Zenit St Petersburg striker Hulk.

Tuesday's defeat to Sunderland underlined Mourinho's summer assessment of his squad that they needed more ammunition to dominate at the top level.

The Daily Mail says Chelsea discussed and bid for Hulk in the summer, offering around £34m to take him from Zenit and the Brazilian has again asked to leave this week.

Manchester United watched Hulk, among others, against Austria Vienna on December 11 but Chelsea have a good relationship with Zenit. A similar bid in January could be enough.