Chinese Super League club Guangzhou Evergrande’s manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has denied rumors saying that Brazilian midfielder Paulinho is heading to Spain to join Barcelona.
The World Cup winning coach said that Paulinho “is not for sale”, and if Barcelona wanted to sign him, he “would know about it”.
“Paulinho will not leave Guangzhou. He has a release clause of €40 million”, the Brazilian coach said, as quoted by Mundo Deportivo.
Scolari also commented that with the new taxes implemented to prevent Chinese clubs from signing too many high-profile footballers, it would be difficult for a Chinese team to lose a star player at the moment, as it wouldn’t be easy to find a replacement.
Paulinho joined Guangzhou Evergrande from Tottenham Hotspur in 2015 for €14 million, signing a four-year deal with the club.