Areas Paulinho Must Improve in to Be a 1st-Season Hit at Tottenham

It would appear that Tottenham have pulled off one of the transfer coups of the offseason with the €20 million signing of Corinthians midfielder Paulinho.

The "segundo volante," or multitasking box-to-box player seems custom made for the Premier League, with his tremendous work rate, solid defensive capabilities, excellent ball skills and knack for popping up in the right place at the right time to score goals.

Paulinho was a standout performer for Corinthians in the Brasileiro, scoring seven goals and making seven assists in 23 games last season and was Brazil's most impressive player after Neymar in the Confederations Cup, in which he found the back of the net twice and averaged 42.5 passes per game.

What would prevent Paulinho from becoming a key starting midfielder for Tottenham in his first season? On the surface, very little, though there are a few factors which could potentially mitigate his success.

Perhaps the red flag that Spurs fans will have picked up on regarding the 24-year-old is that he has already had an unsuccessful crack at European football.

At the age of 17, Paulinho went to Lithuanian club Vilnius before moving on to LKS Lodz in Poland. The player failed to settle at either club and soon returned to his native Brazil, where he sought to rebuild his career.

Paulinho told Charlie Wyett of The Sun that his first European venture was not an enjoyable one and that he suffered from racist abuse and was often required to play out of position at right-back:

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After all I had been through, all those bad moments, bad things, I carried on. I knew about my potential. I knew what I could do. Never mind where you are, you have to fight until the end. It’s important you never give up. I went back to Brazil and started from scratch. I had the self-confidence to take that step back and then managed to take two steps forward.

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Though he has also shown that he is mentally tough by consistently putting in influential displays in crunch fixtures for both club and country, Paulinho will have to need to prove his adaptability on his return to Europe.

Not only will he have to adapt to the faster pace of English football, but he may also be required to fill a different role for Tottenham than he did for Corinthians, and continues to do for his national side.

He is unlikely to be asked by coach Andre Villas-Boas to slot in at right-back, but his job in middle could be somewhat distinct from what he is used to do.

Rather than playing as one of the double pivots in a 4-2-3-1 with license to rove, Paulinho at times may be used as one of the three midfielders in a flexible 4-3-3, meaning he will need to be fully aware of the movements of his teammates and position himself accordingly. 

In such a formation, the Audax Sao Paulo product could be expected to up his goal-to-games ratio as well.

In fact, if the Brazilian is to nail down a starting berth, he must prove to Villas-Boas his tactical smarts and ability to fit into any formation.

Paulinho is adept at shielding the defense and is physically imposing enough not to be overwhelmed by the serried tumult of the Premier League, but he will need to be careful that his sometimes-awkward tackling style does not earn him the ire of the match officials.

As a lanky, all-action midfielder, he can appear clumsy when going in for challenges and must ensure he times his tackles perfectly so as not to clutter into opponents. It's a minor flaw in his technique, but a stray elbow or misjudged kick early in his Premier League career could earn him an unwanted, and unwarranted, reputation as a thuggish player.

All in all it is difficult to nitpick flaws in the game of a player who, based on most criteria, should be a massive hit in English football.

Even if Paulinho does take a false step or two early on, he has the resolve and winning mentality to correct his path and become as popular with Tottenham fans as he is with the Corinthians faithful.