Signing Paulinho would complete a sensational midfield trio for Tottenham

24 June 2013 09:11

On Friday night it was revealed by the Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the Director of Football at Paulinho’s club Corinthians that the 24 year-old Brazilian was on the verge of completing a £17m transfer to White Hart Lane, and last night the player stated that he would consider an offer from Spurs after the Confederations Cup. The box-to-box midfielder, who is reportedly in the interests of Real Madrid and Chelsea, plays for the Brazil national team and would be a brilliant acquisition for Andre Villas-Boas.

Tottenham’s double-pivot of fellow Brazilian Sandro and Belgian Mousa Dembele was a strong partnership in the first half of last season, before the former picked up a season-ending injury at Loftus Road in January; the pair helped Spurs to an unbeaten Christmas spell together with an away win at Old Trafford.

However, although their partnership was extremely secure and exceptional defensively, it sometimes struggled to provide the attacking impetus required to penetrate opposition defences, for example in the goalless draw against Stoke at White Hart Lane. Paulinho would help to change this; he is an energetic, exciting and powerful midfielder – in a similar mould to Ramires – who could offer the added edge to break down tight defences.

With Sandro emerging as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world – he is a regular fixture in the Brazil national side – and Dembele renowned as a superb passer and tempo-setter, the addition of Paulinho could be all that is necessary to turn the Tottenham midfield from a great one into a world-class one. It would also allow AVB to select his preferred 4-3-3; Sandro, Dembele and Paulinho would provide a near-impenetrable defensive barrier, whilst Dembele and Paulinho in particular could support the front 3 – including Gareth Bale, and possibly David Villa. This would complete a superb front 6 for the Lilywhites.

Paulinho has been a standout performer in this year’s Confederations Cup, with the general Brazilian consensus being that he is the second most influential player to the team after wunderkind Neymar. His driving runs and calm finishes have been a highlight for the Brasileira, and it is no surprise that clubs such as Madrid and Chelsea supposedly have an interested in acquiring his services.

If Spurs do complete the signing of Paulinho, not only would it allow the AVB 4-3-3 to shine, but it would add power, pace and dynamics to a slightly static Spurs team.

Source: DSG