Barca announced, then quickly deleted, Paulinho's departure
Barcelona posted a message on Chinese social network 'Weibo', where they confirmed that Paulinho would return to Guangzhou Evergrande, but then quickly deleted it.
It seems that Paulinho will indeed return to China. Reports in the last few days had suggested that an unnamed Chinese team had bid €50m for the midfielder, who was rumoured to be keen on the move.
The Spanish media stated that it was up to Barcelona to decide whether they let Paulinho go, and there is now a clear sign that their answer is yes.
The move looks set to happen after Barcelona's official profile on Chinese social network 'Weibo' (an equivalent of Twitter), posted a message stating that Paulinho would return to Guangzhou Evergrande on a loan with an obligation to buy.
The message was quickly deleted, but not before it was screenshotted and posted to Twitter. It now appears likely that Paulinho has played his last game for the Spanish league champions.