Brazilian soccer superstar Paulinho's Guangzhou career has finally come to an end. After friendly negotiations between the two sides, Guangzhou Football Club agreed to terminate the contract with Paulinho on June 20, 2021, according to the provisions of the contract. The 32-year-old "Black Wind Monster" in Yangcheng days came to an end. From June 2015 to August 2017, and then to July 2018 so far, Paulinho in the Guangzhou team's two "China tour", a total of 176 appearances, contributing 74 goals, 29 assists, won the AFC Championship title, the Super League Championship, Super Cup Championship and the AFC Cup Championship and other honors. Fans have said: "Look at Alan in good times, Golat in bad times, and Paulinho in desperate times!"
On June 29, 2015, Guangzhou Evergrande officially announced the signing of the Brazilian midfield giant from English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur for €14 million.On July 11, Paulinho made his debut at Changchun Jingkai Stadium in the 18th round of the 2015 Chinese Super League season in the No. 48 jersey.On September 26, in the 27th round of the Chinese Super League, Paulinho scored a last-minute comeback goal to help Guangzhou Evergrande narrowly beat Guizhou Renhe 3-2 after trailing 0-2, his first goal for Guangzhou.
Paulinho then helped Guangzhou Evergrande win the 2015 AFC Champions League and represented the team at the Club World Cup. Paulinho was considered the best player in the match against Barcelona, despite the team losing 0-3.On August 14, 2017, Guangzhou Evergrande officially announced that Paulinho officially joined La Liga's Barcelona, for which Barcelona paid a €40 million release fee. In the first part of his career in Guangzhou, Paulinho made 95 appearances as the core of the team's midfield, 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 the full 90 minutes against Guizhou.In the 2019 winter transfer window, Guangzhou Evergrande bought out Paulinho early at the end of the loan period and announced his return to the team for a transfer fee of 42 million euros.In 2019, Paulinho not only helped Guangzhou win its 8th title, he was also honored as the best player of the Chinese Super League that season. He played 42 games for the team that season, scoring 22 goals and assisting 8 times.
On November 12, 2020, Paulinho played his last game in China for Guangzhou as captain, and unfortunately, the team was defeated 1-2 by Jiangsu Suning, 1-2 in two rounds. Paulinho left behind a brilliant record in his Guangzhou career: 1 AFC Champions League title, 3 Chinese Super League titles, 2 Super Cup titles, and 1 AFC Cup title. There is no doubt that he is one of the strongest foreigners in the history of the Chinese Super League, and even more so, the best foreigner in the history of the Guangzhou club so far, and deservedly so! (Zhuo Aoyou)
