Neymar hopes Brazilian pal Paulinho signs with Barcelona

 Neymar has voiced his support of Barcelona signing his friend and international team-mate Paulinho.

The 28-year-old Paulinho is currently starring for Guangzhou Evergrande in the Chinese Super League after a disappointing spell with Tottenham Hotspur.
However, that poor spell in England has not deterred the La Liga giants, who had a €20 million bid publicly rejected by the Chinese club, who insisted the will not sell.

While there has been plenty of debate about the merits of such a move by Barcelona, Neymar is on board with the efforts and says he hopes the club can secure the services of his international team-mate.

"I hope Paulinho signs for Barca,” Neymar told SPORT. “He is a friend and a great player, everyone would receive him with open arms.
“He's got great quality, everyone has seen what he can do when he plays for the national team."
Paulinho’s quality has been more apparent since his move to China, scoring 15 times in 58 league games for Guangzhou Evergrande.

He’s also netted four times in seven games for Brazil during the country’s 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.

For his part, Paulinho remains confident a move can be worked out and admitted he is thinking about a possible transfer to Barcelona. - Goal