What ever happened to Paulinho?It’s certainly a reasonable question. Ever since the Brazilian kissed goodbye to Tottenham and the Premier League in 2015, he seems to have gone completely off the radar.That being said, his spell on English shores certainly didn’t live up to all the initial hype. Besides, the 28-year-old had become something of a star in the victorious Brazilian side of the 2013 Confederations Cup.

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Further to that, he had established himself as something of a stalwart in Brazilian football and became arguably Corinthian’s star player. After all, his performances in midfield went a long way to stopping Chelsea from getting their hands on the FIFA Club World Cup in 2012.

Yet two nondescript seasons at Tottenham put a stop to all of that. While the midfielder was far from disastrous under the wing of Andre Villas-Boas, it proved insufficient to keep him in the Premier League or the Brazilian national team.

As a result, 2015 saw him become one of the first player’s to make a now common switch to China and Guangzhou Evergrande in particular. In fact, it’s even served to reinvigorate the Brazilian’s career, to a certain extent.

He has racked up 87 appearances in Asia across three seasons and has even discovered a knack for goal scoring with 25 strikes so far. It has also seen him return to the frame in Brazil – garnering nine caps in the past two years.

Two league titles and the Asian Champions League have come his way, too.

Okay, so maybe Paulinho could cut it back in Europe after all. Just maybe not at a club like Real Madrid, Manchester United or Barcelona. You’d think so, right?

Well, rather astonishingly, Paulinho could be headed for the Camp Nou. In fact, Barcelona have opened talks with the player and have enquired about his availability come the turn of the year, according to Goal.com.

While the impending departures of midfielders such as Arda Turan may necessitate central arrivals, Paulinho certainly proves a left field choice.

Moreover, the opening of talks coincides with the seemingly impending capture of fellow Brazilian Lucas Lima. The Santos midfielder was reportedly recommended by Neymar, yet surely this second transfer wasn’t the same case.

Seemingly naturally, supporters cannot believe the news and have taken to Twitter in their droves. The best tweets can be seen below:

Of course, any move could turn out to be a shrewd purchase, yet three years out of the European game certainly doesn’t bode well. Furthermore, when Real Madrid are lining up with Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, Barcelona can only be seen as lowering their standards.

And Barca certainly need to bridge the gap. After all, they were beaten to both the Champions League and La Liga title by their El Clasico rivals and the need for improvement seems to be escalating by the week.

Either the Camp Nou faithful hope their club is discussing a gem of a signing in disguise or that Lionel Messi can bail them out again, for old time’s sake.

Do you think Barcelona will win back the La Liga title next season? Have YOUR say in the comment box below