Barca seal deal for former Spurs midfielder Paulinho for a fee of £36m

Barcelona have announced a deal for Brazilian international midfielder Paulinho.

The 25 year old moved to China's Super League side Guangzhou
Evergrande two years ago from English Premier League side, Totteham
Hotspur.

The 29 year old is expected to have his medicals on Thursday in
Barcelona before signing a contract.

His signing comes following the departure of another Brazilian Neymar
to PSG for a world record fee of £200m.

The Catalan club however expressed their desire to sign Paulinho
earlier in the summer before Neymar left the club.

His sojourn to China coincided with a successful spell for Guangzhou
Evergrande who are being managed by former Brazilian world cup winning
coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. They won the Chinese Super League last
year, and are currently the leaders in the current season.

In spite of his time in China, he has remained a regular with the
Brazilian national team, consistently featuring under current coach
Tite.

However, his signing has been seen as underwhelming by most fans of
the club, who regard the Brazilian as not sufficently of the required
quality that the club needs, particularly after the high profile
departure of Neymar to PSG.

With bids for Dortmund's Ousmane Dembele and Liverpool's Coutinho
rejected, Barcelona would have to seek for ingenious ways to improve
their squad before the transfer window closes on 31 August.