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FC Barcelona player has confirmed this morning that Thier Star player has announced his retirement during the interntional break

Former FC Barcelona star and Corinthians legend Paulinho announced his retirement from football on social media this weekend.

In an emotional video, Paulinho said he was “privileged to have been a multi-champion and win important things,” while also contesting two World Cups and ending up at a club as highly-regarded as Barca.

“I left a great legacy,” the midfield warhorse added. “In my last game with Corinthians, with 45 thousand Corinthianos, I felt that it would be my last game, [and that] there would be no better way to say goodbye.”

As the Catalans noted around the time of signing him in 2017, the 36-year-old embarked on a “long road” which eventually took him to the Camp Nou.

Starting his professional journey with Pao De Acucar, he made it to Europe in the mid-to-late 2000s but suffered racism in Poland which pushed him to go home and tell his parents he wanted to quit football.

At Bragantino, however, Paulinho managed to impress and catch the eye of Sao Paulo giants Corinthians, who took him on a two-year loan spell ahead of buying him permanently in 2012.

After becoming a Brazilian Serie A champion in 2011, it was the following year that Paulinho also scooped the Libertadores and the Club World Cup earning him a switch to Premier League outfit Tottenham Hotspur.

Unable to make an impact in north London, Paulinho spent three terms in China at Guangzhou Evergrande.

His move to Barca in 2017 worth a reported $44.4 million (€40 million) was met with derision, but in the sole season he enjoyed at Camp Nou, Paulinho became a fan favourite for his positive attitude and work rate in addition to the nine goals he scored which helped lift La Liga amid a Copa Del Rey triumph under Ernesto Valverde.

Barca proved to be Paulinho’s last European club as he returned to Guangzhou, tried his luck with Al-Ahli, and then finished his career with Corinthians this year.

But it has been an admirable one the 56-cap international put together, which most Brazilian players who managed to make it across the Atlantic would be proud of.

Barca icon Andres Iniesta congratulated him for it on Instagram and called him “great” and a “brother”. “All the best always!” Iniesta added.

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