Paulinho remains hopeful of Barcelona move despite Guangzhou Evergrande rejecting offer

Paulinho has urged Barcelona to make another bid to sign him after club Guangzhou Evergrande rejected a €20m [£17.6m, $22.8m] offer for the Brazil international. The former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder dreams over moving to the Nou Camp and with talks ongoing over his future has urged both parties to come to an agreement to allow him to move to the La Liga giants.

The 28-year-old has been blocked from moving to Barca due to the costs involved to replace him. Clubs from the Chinese Super League are now charged 100% levy on overseas signings worth more than 45m yuan and means filling the void left by Paulinho would be more trouble than it is worth Evergrande, who are managed by former Brazil boss Luiz Felip Scolari.

Evergrande's hand could however be forced if Barcelona match Paulinho's release clause but they must double their initial offer to €40m to secure the signing. It is yet to be seen whether Ernesto Valverde's side will cave to those demands but Paulinho has issued a desperate plea to his parent club to allow him to fulfil his dream of moving to Catalonia. Josep Maria Bartomeu remains locked in talks over a deal but an agreement has not yet been reached.

"I'm not a hypocrite and I'm a transparent person," he told Brazilian publication Band, according to Sport. "I think about Barca. The clause in my contract is €40m and I believe Barca offered €20m and that Guangzhou rejected the offer.

"My agent told me there are new conversations. The majority of players don't ever speak until something happens but I can confirm that the interest is real. What I know is that there's a formal offer and the president of Barcelona spoke with the directors, although there wasn't an agreement.

"It's possible that I will play at Barcelona among a number of star players. I could become part of a club full of stars. There will still be conversations. There's the possibility that there will be an agreement between the clubs and if that's what I want, it will happen."

Two players have arrived at Barcelona since Valverde was confirmed as the club's new manager, succeeding the outgoing Luis Enrique. Marlon Santos has arrived from Fluminense after loan spells with the B team, while Gerard Deulofeu has returned from Everton after the club activated a buy-back clause.

Barcelona have made no secret of their desire to bolster their midfield this summer. Paulinho's plea comes amid reports the club are interested in acquiring Manchester United's Ander Herrera or Southampton's Oriol Romeu having accepted defeat in signing Marco Veratti, despite an intent to offer €80m for the Italian, due to Paris Saint-Germain's decision not to listen to offers