'You are a monster!' - Lucas Moura leads tributes to retiring former Spurs midfielder

When Gareth Bale was sold to Real Madrid in 2013, the then Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas and the board reacted by signing seven players with the £85.1 million that the club received from Los Blancos.

Brazilian midfielder Paulinho was the first to join N17 as a result of the Bale money for a fee of £17 million from Brazilian side Corinthians.

In a week where the 36-year-old has called time on his career, we look at his brief time at Tottenham and show how despite his struggles in the English game, he is still held in high regard by Brazilians including Spurs cult hero Lucas Moura.

Paulinho's tumultuous Tottenham period

In truth, the 2013/14 was a tough campaign at White Hart Lane, as the side finished sixth behind Everton in the Premier League.

The Brazilian did, however, produce a return of ten direct goal involvements in 37 appearances in all competitions, the highlight being a last-minute Premier League winner away to Cardiff City.

Paulinho and his new signings, however, failed to gel consistently with their new teammates and a bad run of results meant that Villas-Boas was relieved of his duties in December.

Tim Sherwood took over in the dugout for the remainder of the season, and in an interview with Sky Sports News highlighted that Paulinho was struggling with life in England, both on and off the pitch.

"He’s come here from another country and the language has been a problem for him. Also settling into the Premier League, it’s a different game from what he has been used to," Sherwood said.

The following season, Mauricio Pochettino appeared to have more trust in academy graduates Nabil Bentaleb and Ryan Mason in the midfield department, and Paulinho was given just 15 Premier League appearances before being transferred to Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande that summer (via Transfermarkt).

Lucas Moura lauds "monster" Paulinho

In a post on Instagram, Tottenham cult hero led the Spurs community in congratulating his compatriot Paulinho on an "incredible career" and branded the midfielder "a monster."

According to Transfermarkt, the pair played together for 14 of Paulinho's 56 caps for the Brazilian national team. The midfielder played a starting role in the Brazilian midfield at two World Cups; Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018.

In the summer of 2017, the midfielder raised eyebrows with a shock move back to Europe to play with European giants Barcelona.

After a season in La Liga, he returned to China before moving to the Saudi Pro League with Al Ahli before returning to Brazil to see out his playing career with Corinthians.

The midfielder announced his retirement from the game via an emotional Instagram post, prompting a response from the wider football community including Lucas, Neymar Junior, and Andrés Iniesta.