Paulinho: I never gave up

Tottenham’s new signing Paulinho has revealed his determination to succeed after enduring a difficult start to his career.

The 24-year-old Brazil international will play in the Premier League for the first time next season after completing his switch from Corinthians to Tottenham for a fee of just under £17 million on Saturday.

The midfielder returns to Europe for his third spell after initially moving to Lithuanian club FC Vilnius at the age of 17, where he suffered racial abuse.

He faced the same plight when he represented Polish outfit LKS Lodz, and then took the decision to return to Brazil where he spent a season with Bragantino before joining Corinthians.

Paulinho has since starred for the Brazilian side and believes his attitude is a major element of his success.

“After all I had been through, all those bad moments, bad things, I carried on. I knew about my potential,” he told The Sun.

“I knew what I could do. Never mind where you are, you have to fight until the end. It’s important you never give up.

“I went back to Brazil and started from scratch. I had the self-confidence to take that step back and then managed to take two steps forward.”

Paulinho will now link up with the Tottenham squad before they embark on their tour to Asia to take part in the Barclays Asia Trophy, which commences on July 24.