According to a blurb in Lancenet, Chelsea are favourites to beat AC Milan and Real Madrid to the signature of Brazilian midfielder Paulinho, currently plying his trade -- kind of -- at Tottenham Hotspur. The deal is reportedly set to be announced at the end of the World Cup.
While Lancenet tend to be pretty ok for all things Brazilian, I just can't believe that this rumour is true. Paulinho was a decent enough player at Corinthians, but he's had about 90 good minutes in the Premier League this season and there's literally zero reason to believe that he's Chelsea quality at the moment. And that we supposedly have competition from Real Madrid for him is frankly weird. Milan seem like a far more sensible option.
I think the club needs to upgrade at midfield and am happy that we're apparently sniffing around, but unless Paulinho's been deliberately annoying Tottenham by playing badly (in which case we should sign him up out of principle), he's not an upgrade, and therefore I'd give this one a pass.