Kuala Lumpur: Paulinho has left China PR's Guangzhou Evergrande for Spanish giants Barcelona FC, thus missing out on the 2017 AFC Champions League Quarter-finals against Shanghai SIPG.
The transfer was officially confirmed on Monday and the move to Spain will see the former Tottenham midfielder playing alongside the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez in Barcelona.
The 29-year-old Brazilian international assisted Guangzhou claim their second AFC Champions League title in 2015, as well as back-to-back Chinese Super League championships in 2015 and 2016.
Guangzhou will take on Shanghai SIPG on August 22 away in the first leg of the AFC Champions League Quarter-finals, with the return leg on September 12.
Source: the-afc.com