Corinthians have
confirmed that the departure of Tottenham target Paulinho is
"imminent."
Reports have
suggested that Tottenham have had a bid accepted by Corinthians for Paulinho
after meeting his €20million (£17m) buy-out clause.
A number of
clubs have been linked with moves, with reports in Spain claiming newly
appointed Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti wants Paulinho - who is currently
away on international duty with Brazil at the Confederations Cup.
Corinthians are
resigned to losing the highly-rated midfielder and are already looking for
replacements for Paulinho.
"Besides
the signings we also suffered harassment of the top clubs in the world on some
of our key players," read a club statement from president Mario Gobbi
Filho.
"We make
every effort to keep them, but we have to evaluate the good proposals and
understand the goals and aspirations of life of each of our athletes.
"With the
imminent departure of Paulinho we trust in football other players that are
being prepared for some time, as William and Edenilson, or even the newly hired
Ibson."
The Brazilian
midfield has been the subject of much debate throughout the tournament, with
Luiz Felipe Scolari's choice pairing of Luiz Gustavo and Paulinho criticised
for a lack of balance.
But with his
spirited performance against Uruguay, the Corinthians midfielder proved he
fully warrants his place in the starting XI.
Paulinho, who
scored Brazil's winning goal in their Conferderations Cup semi-final victory
over Uruguay, was remaining coy on where his future lay.
Asked if the
goal was scored by Tottenham's Paulinho or Corinthians' Paulinho's the
midfielder told reporters: "This goal was scored by the Paulinho that
plays for Corinthians."
