Barcelona star Paulinho completes shock return to Guangzhou Evergrande after one year

Barcelona midfielder Paulinho has sensationally returned to Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande just one year after moving to Camp Nou in a £36m deal.

The 30-year-old had a rather unspectacular maiden season with Barca, though was nevertheless part of Ernesto Valverde’s first-choice XI and held the same status in Tite’s Brazil side at the World Cup.


But Barca have are been looking to free up a non-EU spot in their roster as they look to wrap up a deal for Gremio’s Arthur, while they have also been linked with Chelsea star Willian.

Barcelona star Paulinho completes shock return to Guangzhou Evergrande after one year
And on Sunday evening, Guangzhou confirmed they had reached an agreement with Barcelona to sign Paulinho on an initial one-year loan.

The deal is believed to include a mandatory option to buy at the end of the loan for £44million – more than Barcelona paid to sign him just 12 months ago.

Speaking about the move, he told the club’s official website: ‘The level of the Chinese Super League has improved year on year and the development prospects are very good.

‘After training in Evergrande and Barcelona, and following the Brazilian team in the World Cup, I got a good experience.

‘I chose to return to the Super League this time, hoping to bring more championships to Guangzhou and Guangzhou fans.’

Paulinho joined Guangzhou from Tottenham in 2015, scoring 22 goals and laying on five assists in 84 games, while he netted nine La Liga goals with Barca last season.