Barcelona sign former Spurs flop Paulinho in £36.4m deal
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Updated 14/08/2017 at 11:18 GMT
Barcelona have announced the signing of former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Paulinho in a deal worth €40 million (£36.4m).
Brazil's Paulinho celebrates his third goal
Image credit: Reuters
The Brazil international, 29, joins the Spanish giants from China’s Guangzhou Evergrande and is due to undergo a medical and formally sign his contract on Thursday.
Paulinho joined Tottenham from Corinthians in 2013 and spent two largely unproductive seasons at White Hart Lane before leaving for China in 2015.
However, his performances for Guangzhou, and the Brazilian national team, rejuvenated his career and Paulinho now has a chance to compete for a place alongside Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic in one of the best midfields in the world.
Guangzhou coach Andre Villas-Boas said last week that the transfer was a positive sign for the Chinese league.
Because Paulinho has come here and done ever so well, now he has a transfer to one of the biggest clubs in the world. I think it shows that the big clubs are also looking at our league. It's a reflection of the players and the quality of work that is being done here.
Paulinho is the third major signing of the summer for Barcelona. The club also signed right-back Nelson Semedo from Benfica and activated a buyback clause to sign forward Gerard Deulofeu from Everton.
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