Paulinho has admitted he was thinking about a Barcelona switch as the Catalans moved for him, before Guangzhou Evergrande rejected the offer.

"I'm a transparent person, I'm not a hypocrite, it's clear I'm thinking about Barcelona," said the Brazilian midfielder to Band, a Brazilian channel. "The chance to play at Barcelona, alongside great players has arisen, I could be part of a team full of cracks."

"There was an official offer from barcelona, the president of Guangzhou spoke to them and a deal was not reached," added Paulinho. He confirmed SPORT's exclusive, that Barcelona bid 20m euros.

"My clause is 40m euros and according to my agent, Barcelona's offer was 20m and Guangzhou did not accept it," he said. "I'm in a marvellous moment of my career, of my life, I think that when you'e in a moment like this, things in the end happen naturally."

There could be more to come on Paulinho in the coming days...