Barcelona are on the verge of signing of Brazilian midfielder Paulinho from Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande on a £36.5million deal, as reported by The Mirror.
Paulinho has been the target of Barcelona all summer. The Spanish La Liga powerhouse opened with an offer of £17million in July but have since significantly increased their offer after unexpectedly losing key player Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain.
Joining in a £17million deal from Corinthians, Paulinho was struggling to make an impact at Tottenham Hotspurs. He made 67 appearances for two seasons, scoring 11 times, but was eventually sold for a fee of around £10million to Guangzhou Evergrande in the summer of 2015.
In the Far East, the 29-year-old has been back to his form under the guidance of former Brazilian national football team coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.
His impressive performance earned him a recall for the national side, where he netted against Argentina in a 2018 World Cup qualifier, and also grabbed a hat-trick against Uruguay.