Tottenham Transfer: Paulinho Signing Halts Tom Carroll's Potential Greatness

Tottenham Hotspur signing Paulinho from Corinthians gives André Villas-Boas a world-class midfielder but it halts the potential greatness of Tom Carroll. 

Paulinho, a powerful 24-year-old midfielder who created an extra dimension with his surging runs during Brazil's FIFA Confederations Cup, bears the mental scars of being doubted.

"After what I went through in Lithuania and Poland, my wish was to quit football," Paulinho told SNTV via The Guardian. "My wife approached me and said: 'if you do this, it will be a lack of respect to your parents.'"

Paulinho was reflecting upon his Eastern European forays with Vilnius and LKS Lodz, where he was subject to racial abuse which adversely affected his playing performance. 

"I knew about my potential," Paulinho said to Charlie Wyett at The Sun. "I had the self-confidence to take that step back and then managed to take two steps forward."

Stints with modest Brazilian clubs Audax São Paulo and Bragantino led to a move to Corinthians which paved the foundations for his transfer to Tottenham.

South American football correspondent Tim Vickery described Paulinho via BBC Sport as the "type of box-to-box midfielder who looks made for English football."

On paper, Paulinho forms a complete midfield three with teammates Sandro and Mousa Dembélé, but it dashes the hopes of Carroll. 

Last season, you just had to marvel at Carroll's technical aptitude when he was given a run by Villas-Boas in the Europa League. 

Starting alongside the more experienced Tom Huddlestone against Maribor, a team that would finish at the bottom of the group, Carroll registered 21 more passes than Huddlestone. 

Who made the most passes match? Carroll, with 87. 

Carroll was calm in possession during the 0-0 draw against Lazio, whereas their more established players were erratic with the ball. 

Cristian Ledesma, who's played over 300 Serie A games, misplaced 34 percent of his passes. 

Uruguayan international Álvaro González completed 67 percent of his passes, 21 percent lower than Carroll.

He made the most passes for a Tottenham player despite being subbed off for Dembélé in the 77th minute.

There's a misconception that Carroll makes simplistic passes, when actually the majority of them go forward.

As Andrés Iniesta said via FourFourTwo.com: "The best players are the quickest thinkers," and this is representative of Carroll's playing style. 

Carroll has a high football IQ, an innate ability to predict where the ball will end up and a halcyon approach to passing—these are the reasons he was such a ball magnet in the Europa League.

Due to his diminutive stature, however, his ball-winning prowess largely goes unnoticed.

He won back possession 4.3 times per Europa League game which was marginally better than 6'1" Dembélé (4.2). 

At 21 years of age, Carroll would've had several openings to force himself into Tottenham first XI, but it hasn't happened. 

When Carroll's teammate Andros Townsend had his first extended Premier League run on loan at Queens Park Rangers last season, he was at times unstoppable in full tilt. 

A loan to a mid-tier or bottom-tier Premier League club that has a gentleman's agreement with Spurs to give Carroll meaningful playing time is the most sensible option to take for the upcoming season. 

Paulinho's story of footballing salvation shows the value of granting additional chances to players who didn't take advantage of their first, second or even third opportunities.

Next season, the Premier League club that receives Carroll on loan and starts him regularly will have a midfield linchpin. 

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Statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com, Fox Soccer and Squawka.com