Paulinho confirms Barcelona interest

Former Tottenham midfielder Paulinho has shockingly revealed that he is in talks with Barcelona for a possible summer move.

The Brazilian enjoyed two seasons at Tottenham where he scored 10 goals in 67 appearances. He then made the shocking switch to Chinese Super League club Guangzhou Evergrande for £9.9 million in 2015 and disappeared from the radar as he failed to make any appearances for his national team that year.

However, a strong season for Guangzhou in 2016 where he scored 11 goals in 44 games earned him a recall to the Brazil squad. He has been an integral part of the team in the World Cup qualifiers and is one of the main reasons why Brazil was the first country to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. His performance against Uruguay, in which he scored a brilliant hat-trick, is illustrative of his rise back to prominence.

Barcelona were rumoured to be interested in the Brazilian and reportedly tabled a £35 million to Guangzhou Evergrande. Now, the player himself has confirmed those reports.

Speaking to Brazilian news site Globoesporte, the 28-year-old was quoted as saying: "I am very happy for the interest of a great team like Barcelona. There was a contact with my representative and there was an offer." 

"It is difficult to decide. I have to value many things to make a decision, first of all, my wife and I live very well in China. We like the place, the people, the sporting culture, the local title and being Asian Champions." 

Paulinho then revealed that he will make a decision soon.  

This might prove as a stroke of genius by new Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde. Like Casemiro at Real Madrid, Paulinho has the potential to be a midfield general with his combative playing style while also having ample creativity to fit into Barcelona's way of football.