Manchester City are lining up a January raid on Corinthians for midfielder Paulinho according to reports in England.
The Daily Mirror reports that Roberto Mancini wants the Brazilian to bolster the midfield with Gareth Barry and Javi Garcia failing to live up to expectations.
In addition, Yaya Toure is set to leave for the African Cup of Nations, leaving City short of options and Mancini believes that Paulinho could be the answer to his problems.
The midfielder is valued at £12m and has already attracted interest from Chelsea and Inter ahead of Corinthians’ entry into the Club World Cup.
But Manchester City could be constrained by Finacial Fair Play rules which would scupper any move for the midfield dynamo.
The midfielder has impressed for Corinthians in recent seasons and has become an mainstay of the Brazilian midfield alongside Tottenham’s Sandro.
However, the Brazilian has recently insisted that he is happy at Corinthians and has no plans to move away from Brazil.
