Tottenham Hotspur have agreed a fee in the region of €18 million to sign the highly rated Corinthians midfielder Paulinho.
The 24-year-old joined the Brazilian club in 2010, and during his three years stay at the club, he scored 34 goals in 167 appearances.
Paulinho was a target of Serie A giants Inter Milan and even the player has a spoken agreement with the Nerazzurri, but such talks cooled off due the Italian club’s failure to qualify for the Champions League.
Spanish media reported couple of days back that Real Madrid are keen to sign the Brazil international and are willing to pay €20 million for the box-to-box type midfielder in one single payment. The Los Blancos were so desperate to land him that they even thought of including Ricardo Kaká as part of the deal.
But, according to Brazilian media Globoesporte.com, Spurs (were seriously interested in him) have clinched the deal and the player will sign contract with the North London club after the Confederations Cup is over.
Corinthians will get 50% of the economic rights i.e. $26.5 million out of the total transfer money ($53million) while the remaining funds will go to Audax São Paulo.
Paulinho will now join fellow compatriot Sandro at the North London club and manager Andre Villas-Boas would be hoping to forge a deadly combo with the Brazilian duo at the heart of midfield.
The Portuguese has made a strong statement recently saying that star winger Gareth Bale would not be sold in the summer, despite strong interests from Real Madrid.
Spurs have really made a strong statement of intent here by signing one of the brightest talents in the world at the moment. If the club can keep hold of Bale and build a strong team around him, the fans can hope for something better next season.
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