Paulinho: I have come to Barcelona to be a starter

Paulinho is now one more player in the Barcelona dressing room and he says he has been "received really well." The Brazilian, in an interview with SPORT, came across as really ambitious as he gets started at Camp Nou, saying he's ready "to work really hard to achieve the objectives I've set out" which start with "winning, we can't think anything other than winning titles." 

For that, Paulinho has two short-term challenges: to convine Ernesto Valverde that he should be a regular and, also, to convince those who have doubted his arrival. Personally, he has no doubts. "With respect to all the players here, I come with the idea of being a starter. I respected everyone a lot, by my thoughts are on playing and starting," he expalined in the interview, which took place on Wednesday at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper.

He will not be team-mates with his compatriot Neymar, although he says "that is part of football. [Neymar] took the decision to leave and, even though he's an excellent player and would help a lot, he's gone. That's football. But we have a strong group of players with a lot of quality. That's now in the past and we have to look to the future." He will have Leo Messi by his side, though, and he's already training with the Argentine: "He's the best in the world, with unexplainable quality. I'm focusing on the way you have to play [at Barça], on how I have to play to adapt to [Messi]. Because the objective is to do everything possible to make him the best player in the world again and that will help us win titles."  

Paulinho also spoke about his new coach, Ernesto Valverde: "He already knows my qualities and I am ready for what he needs, to help him and to help the team." The full interview is in Thursday's edition of SPORT.