Paulinho moves to Tottenham Hotspur

By Graham MacAree Jul 6, 2013, 5:54am EDT

Paulinho's transfer to Tottenham Hotspur has been an open secret for days, but the club has finally made it official, announcing the acquisition of the Brazil international through their Twitter account:

We are delighted to announce that we have reached agreement for the transfer of Paulinho from Corinthians! pic.twitter.com/2v82ZLNHoc
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) July 6, 2013

Paulinho, 24, is rumoured to have cost Spurs some £17 million plus wages, but considering the magnitude of the upgrade over Scott Parker that the team is receiving it's a price well worth paying.

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The former Corinthians man adds to a muscular midfield that could easily feature him playing alongside Moussa Dembele and compatriot Sandro, giving Spurs plenty of power. Admittedly, there's not a lot of subtlety there, but Paulinho's versatile enough to do more or less whatever Andre Villas-Boas asks, and it's easy to see him slotting into the side fairly effortlessly.

If Spurs can now secure a striker, they're looking like a genuine threat to unseat Arsenal and sneak back into the Champions League places. Next season should be fairly interesting.

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