Brazilian star Paulinho's departure is finalized. After some friendly negotiation, Guangzhou Football Club and Paulinho officially terminated the contract on June 20, 2021, marking the end of the 32-year-old "violent bird" career in Guangzhou. Looking back on Paulinho's two "China Tours" from June 2015 to August 2017 and from July 2018 to the present, he played a total of 176 matches on behalf of Guangzhou, contributing 74 goals and 29 assists, and winning one AFC Champions League, three Chinese Super League titles, two Super Cups, and one F.A.C. Cup. As fans have praised, "Look at Alan in the tailwind, Golat in the tailwind, and Paulinho in the desperate situation!"
On June 29, 2015, Guangzhou Evergrande's official website announced the signing of Brazilian midfielder Paulinho from Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League for 14 million euros.On July 11, in the 18th round of the Chinese Super League (CSL) at the Changchun Jingkai Stadium, Paulinho made his Guangzhou debut in the 78th minute replacing Yu Hanchao, wearing jersey No. 48.On September 26, in the 27th round of the CSL, Paulinho scored a comeback goal in the 91st minute to help Guangzhou Evergrande come back from 0-2 down to win 3-2 against Guizhou Renhe. In the 27th round of the Chinese Super League, Paulinho scored the winning goal in the 91st minute of the match, which helped Guangzhou Evergrande to win 3-2 against Guizhou Renhe after trailing 0-2 in the end.
Paulinho went on to help Guangzhou Evergrande win the 2015 AFC Champions League and represented the team in the 2015 Club World Cup. In the match against Barcelona, despite the team's 0-3 loss, Paulinho was regarded as the best player and his performance far exceeded that of his other teammates.On August 14, 2017, Guangzhou Evergrande officially announced that Paulinho had officially joined La Liga's FC Barcelona, for which Barcelona paid a release fee of 40 million euros. In the first period of Guangzhou's career, Paulinho, as the core of the team's midfield, appeared in 95 games, contributing 25 goals and 5 assists.
On July 8, 2018, Paulinho returned to Guangzhou on loan.On July 18, he once again donned the Guangzhou kit for 90 minutes against Guizhou.In the 2019 winter transfer window, Guangzhou Evergrande bought out Paulinho for a transfer fee of 42 million euros and announced his return to the team.In 2019, Paulinho not only helped Guangzhou win their eighth top-flight title , but also won the title of the best player in the Chinese Super League that season. That season, Paulinho played 42 games for the team, scoring 22 goals and assisting 8 times.
On November 12, 2020, Paulinho played his last game in China for Guangzhou as captain, unfortunately, the team 1-2 defeated Jiangsu Suning, two rounds of 1-2 regret missed the championship. Paulinho's career with Guangzhou left behind: 1 AFC Champions League title, 3 Chinese Super League titles, 2 Super Cup titles, and 1 AFC Cup title. There is no doubt that Paulinho is one of the strongest foreigners in the history of the Chinese Super League, and even more so, the best foreigner in Guangzhou's history so far, and deservedly so! (Zhuo Aoyou)
