Report: Borussia Dortmund to compete for Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Paulinho

Borussia Dortmund are the latest club to be linked with a move for Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Paulinho. Website Lance!net, as reported by Sports Witness, claims that the Bundesliga outfit will compete with the likes of Corinthians, Internazionale, Juventus, Milan and Zenit to secure a deal for Paulinho, who is widely expected to be sold in […]
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sambafoot_admin
2015-04-29 18:30:00

Borussia Dortmund are the latest club to be linked with a move for Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Paulinho.

Website Lance!net, as reported by Sports Witness, claims that the Bundesliga outfit will compete with the likes of Corinthians, Internazionale, Juventus, Milan and Zenit to secure a deal for Paulinho, who is widely expected to be sold in the summer transfer window.

The 26 year-old was signed from Corinthians for a reported fee of €19.73 million in July 2013, but has struggled to make an impression in the Premier League.

In his first season, under the management of first André Villas-Boas, then Tim Sherwood, he managed an admittedly reasonable return of eight goals in 37 appearances in all competitions, but this term has been largely out of favour with Mauricio Pochettino in charge. 

The former Argentina international has preferred to use youngsters Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb as his central midfield partnership, with Paulinho limited to just 14 appearances in the Premier League – only three of which have been starts.

A return to Corinthians, where he won four major honours, including the FIFA Club World Cup and Copa Libertadores de América, has been mooted, but Dortmund could be a realistic option.

The North Rhine-Westphalia based club will be managed by Thomas Tuchel next season following Head Coach Jürgen Klopp’s decision to step down and may need a replacement for midfielder İlkay Gündoğan, who has been strongly linked with Bayern Munich and Manchester United.

Dortmund may face strong competition from Milan however, given that Sulley Muntari, Nigel De Jong and Michael Essien are all expected to move on, while were Paulinho to join Zenit, he would be reunited with Villas-Boas, who signed him for Tottenham.