Paulinho will not be sold to Barcelona at the current summer transfer window, Guangzhou Evergrande have insisted.
The Chinese Super League champions reiterated that the Brazilian international midfielder is not for sale and determined to reject any approaches from Spanish La Liga side.
“Paulinho, having already renewed his contract in January 2017, is an important player for our club’s the long-term project,” said Guangzhou Evergrande in a statement was quoted by Goal.
“Therefore, our club have given a formal response to the Barcelona football club that we reject their bid for Paulinho, who is not in our transfer plan whatsoever.
“We’d like to express our gratitude to Barcelona who have reserved a high degree of admiration for Paulinho.”
Paulinho helped the team to back-to-back league titles in 2015 and 2016, as well as the 2015 AFC Champions League title since joining from Tottenham Hotspur two years ago.