http://www.sambafoot.com/en/news/48860_tottenham_agree_\__17m_deal_with_corinthians_for_paulinho\_-\_report.html?

Tottenham have agreed a £17 million deal to bring Corinthians star Paulinho to White Hart Lane, according to theDaily Mail.

• The 24-year-old has continually been linked with a move to the Premier League outfit, as well as Inter, Chelsea, Roma and most recently Real Madrid.

• *But it now seems that Andre Villas-Boas has won the race for Paulinho’s signature, having offered the Brazilian club enough money to meet the midfielder’s buyout clause of £17m (€20m).

• *Spurs are said to have been told earlier in the week they would have to up the ante on a bid for Paulinho, with the North London club originally hoping to pay in the region of £15m.

• The Daily Mail report that the Timão have confirmed the deal, even though Paulinho himself said had he will not make a decision until after the Confederations Cup in Brazil.

Obviously nothing is finalized until the player's signature is on the contract, but... HAPPY DANCE TIME.
I don't want to jinx it, but, could this finally be the transfer window where we get our business done before the last day??

Corinthians have confirmed that negotiations are gathering pace with Tottenham regarding the transfer of Paulinho.

The Brazil international, who is currently impressing in the Confederations Cup, has long been linked with a move to Europe with Tottenham among the clubs interested.

Spurs were yet to have firmed up their interest as recently as last week, but reports now suggest that a £17million bid for the midfielder has been accepted.

Corinthians director of football Edu - a former Arsenal player - has confirmed that there have been further developments and a move to London now looks likely.

When asked about the interest from the White Hart Lane club, Edu told UOL: "The situation is well underway.

"We have to agree on some details of the negotiation, so I can't say he will leave yet, but the negotiations are good."

The 24-year-old made his Brazil debut in 2011 and was recently on target for his country against England at the Maracana.

"We have to agree on some details of the negotiation, so I can't say he will leave yet, but the negotiations are good."

It seems like he's going to join Spurs this season, That's a very good news. But you guys need a Striker more than a Midfielder.

I agree, but it feels so good to get a big signing (nearly) done early. I'm kinda goose-pimply at the thought of a midfield containing Sandro, Dembele and Paulinho... with Holtby to sit in front of them feeding Bale and a Mystery Striker...

I was really disappointed we didn't get Son, but someone like Papiss Cisse and Mohamed Salah would be ideal.

Good luck in singing a good striker. This season is going to be very competitive with Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham HotSpur, Liverpool and Manchester City fighting for the title. :)

Isn't Salah a winger? Anyways, you guys could be well off buying both an experienced striker for a cheap price, AND a young and promising striker. I mean, the experience of one player always helps the young 'uns, right? No one can deny that Ronaldinho played a HUGE role in the development of Messi and Iniesta.

I think for an experienced striker (if Spurs have the money), you guys could be off with Klose. I think we all know how amazing this guy really is. He does surprisingly well for the limited amount of playing time he receives.

As for young strikers, you guys should have bought Damaio a long time ago. :/

If not him, then perhaps Antoine Griezmann can do the trick. He DOES play as a winger for Sociedad, but has all the skills necessary to be converted into a striker just like how Henry was. I think AVB can handle him perfectly if he bought him.

If I am correct, Spurs have Souleymane Coulibaly in their youth ranks. If the rumors are true that he is one of the most talented young youth players then why go for a young striker. Just go for a great striker in his prime who can play for 3-4 years until Coulibaly is ready.

@Dynast: Salah is a winger, yeah, but with his lethal finishing I actually think he could be brought inside too, sometimes, quite effectively.

But, there's actually a reason why I'm suddenly more concerned with wingers than out-and-out strikers -- we're going to need them, because our most famous winger has, over the course of last season, been turned into one of the best strikers in the world.

Assuming we hang onto Bale... that's one enormous plug in the CF hole, right there. And, if AVB starts using his favorite 4-3-3 system (which I hope he does), that hugely reduces the need for a huge striker roster, because the striker in the center would be linking in with a winger on either side. Damiao is a lost cause; if Internacional's president hadn't kept changing his price every time we made a bid, maybe it'd have worked out, but, enough's enough and we need to look for other solutions. Which is why someone like Cisse would be ideal as Bale's rotation partner in the center.

Which brings us back to the wings, where we currently have only Lennon, and Andros Townsend returning from loan to QPR (who was, incidentally voted their player of the season). If either of those guys get injured, our wing play is over. So, yeah, someone like Salah, who operates mainly as a winger, but who could also cover as a striker in a 4-4-2 if we need it, would be perfect. Again, I would have loved Son, but, what can ya do? I'd still love to have Tello, too, for that same reason.

Of course, there's still an outside shot we might beat Porto and BVB to the signature of Bernard (which I give about a 20% chance of), which would be SPECTACULARLY awesome, but all this, considering we do still have Defoe (and Adebayor, if we don't sell him) and Bale already to facilitate a striker's role in 4-3-3... I'm less concerned with a new CF than I was, say, 6 months ago when Bale was still just a winger, to us.

tl;dr: anyways, that's just my long-winded version of why winger-strikers are suddenly my new concern, instead of out-and-out CFs.

@Vendetta: I had very high hopes for him too, but he's not (yet) living up to the hype, despite a loan to a Serie B team for the second-half of last season. We'll see, but it would be wonderful if he did turn out excellent, as he did during that U21 World Cup in Mexico. We also have Shaq Coulthirst, Harry Kane and Jonathan Obika as youth strikers who are tipped for good things, eventually.

Anyhow, imagine Spurs starting next season like this?

With Holtby and Sigurdsson as excellent rotation partners for any of the central 3, with Lennon, Townsend (and maybe Tom Ince) as cover for the wings, and with Defoe, Adebayor and Dempsey as cover for the CF?

Starts to look less bad, doesn't it?

@Lodatz

Then maybe you might be interested in some god business in Portugal. Kelvin would be a great buy, as he's still insanely young and talented. I would've suggested Jackson Martinez as well, but like you said, there's a chance you might not need him if AVB switches his formation.

It's also that I'm not sure we could expect to get Jackson Martinez for less than 30m, which is in the same ball-park then as going for Benteke. I hear good things about this Atsu guy though..?

I don't know much about him, so maybe if Golden saw this post, I'm sure he can be of help.

What about Villa, better choice than Benteke imo and cheaper...

@tiki: with wages, he's just too expensive. Plus he's 31 and has only played in one league. It'd be a very expensive gamble, really. We don't have that kind of money to gamble with. :/

You're right for his wage and for the age, but this player can adapt everywhere. If Tottenham wants to pretend to CL every year,they will be obliged to have players with high wages.

@tiki_taka

Yes, but they can split Villa's wages between Paulinho AND Benteke. Villa's demands are just too high. And you don't know how successful Villa will be in the PL because he's (like Lodatz said) only played in one league. YOU may say that he can adapt anywhere, but how will he play without a Spanish made midfield behind him? He's always had great support in Barcelona, Spain, and Valencia, so how will he fare in the straightforward dimension of the PL? No one wants to find out now, especially since he's on the wrong side of 30. :/

It's just that Tottenham are building a squad right now, and to look ahead to the future, they would be better off with youngsters or middle-aged players, not players 30 and above. And Villa's wages and one-league-restriction is kind of outrageous for Spurs to go for atm.

Villa would be good, but a short term solution. Plus he has lost some pace after his injury. If he can reduce his wage demands a bit, then I think Juventus should go after him, he should do well in the Italian league and would still get to compete at the highest levels.

^^ How about you sell us Aguero? ;)

@Lodatz

Too expensive. And since Aguero plays for City, his wage demands are probably excessive as well. :/

I never understand how Spurs keep attracting these great players without even playing in the CL..

WHAT IS YOUR SECRET?! Inter win CL 3 years ago, won 5 scudetti in a row. Fantastic city, weather and culture. And yet we struggle to get top class players.

When was the last time Spurs even won a trophy?? This doesn't even make any sense.

I will cry if Bernard goes to Tottenham :(