According to the Daily Mail, Chelsea have begun pursuit of Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Paulinho, after the Brazilian international impressed clubs all over the country with his performances in his early days in London.

Chelsea will still be sore from their unexpected UEFA Champions League ousting at the hands of Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge. The Spanish outfit came with a goalless draw from Madrid in the first leg, and played on the counter. This tactic worked in their favour, and Chelsea’s game quickly turned into a disaster. Players like Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres were ineffective, and could not cause too much damage to the opposition.

Paulinho began his career in native Brazil with Pao de Acucar as a youth player, and went onto sign a professional contract with FC Vilinius. With a few short stints at Polish club LKS Lodz, Brazilian club Audax, and Bragantino, Paulinho wanted a permanent move to a bigger club, and that is when Corinthians came calling in 2010. The 25-year old enjoyed a 3-year spell at the club, and played 86 matches, scoring 20 goals. As the player also burst onto the national team, European clubs were chasing the player, and Tottenham Hotspur grabbed the opportunity to sign the player for £17 million but now it looks like he could be joining the Brazilian contingent at Stamford Bridge.