Paulinho is back on Sporting’s radar, three years after having been very close to reinforcing the Alvalade emblem.
Now, the 21-year-old Brazilian winger, who is on his fourth season in Germany, at the service of Bayer Leverkusen, appears in a restricted list of targets whose profile fits the reinforcement intended by Rúben Amorim: a fast, dexterous winger, capable of playing in both bands of attack and with experience in big European stages.
It was in the 2019 summer market that Paulinho came very close to reinforcing Sporting, at the time still guided by Marcel Keizer. The young Brazilian, trained at Vasco da Gama, had just completed his debut season in the Bundesliga, with Bayer Leverkusen, with a total of 21 official games but only four in his own right. At that time, Paulinho was suggested to the Leonine structure, approved by Frederico Varandas and Hugo Viana, in a deal that would be a loan valid for a season.
“There was interest, not only from Sporting but from other clubs. It was an intense fight but it ended up not going forward», admitted Paulinho, at the beginning of 2020, after a game at Estádio do Dragão, against FC Porto, in the service of the German emblem.
With a contract valid for just one more season, that is, until June 2023, Paulinho will be the subject of analysis at the German emblem, which will have to make a decision – or move on to renewal, something that, we found, is not yet up. and Paulinho is not interested for now – or he will have the last opportunity to make a significant contribution to the young Brazilian who, in July 2018, cost 18.5 million euros in this window.
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