Chelsea surprise the world, deciding to scout potential opponent Paulinho

The first semifinal of the Club World Cup will get underway in just under 30 hours, and the Mirror have come out with a shocking report. Apparently, Chelsea will have scouts in attendance at the game. Forget the fact that they'll be playing one of these two teams this weekend, this is absolutely mind blowing news, isn't it?

In all seriousness, there will be one player involved that Chelsea and their fans should be very much paying attention to. Paulinho is a fantastic footballer, and he plays a position that is all of a sudden a very pressing need for the club. For those of you that haven't seen him, he's become a regular of late in the Brazilian national team, and is one of the more well rounded midfielders I've watched at any point this season.

Technical Director Michael Emenalo will be in attendance, and I'd be surprised if Roman Abramovich is not there as well. This would be a golden opportunity for a very good young player to make sure the club take notice.

Also of note in the article is a tidbit about Paulinho's buyout. The paper claims it drops to just £11 million after the tournament, and I saw similar reports this summer when Inter Milan were struggling to pry him away. If true, this would seem to be a bargain that would fill a very obvious need.

At this point it's all speculation, but the player should definitely be on everyone's radar. He's certainly one of the more reasonable suggestions that I've heard linked to Chelsea for the January window, especially if the reports of his buyout are accurate. Here's hoping he shines and catches a certain billionaire's eye...