Paulinho

CountryBrazil ClubVasco da Gama PositionAttacking midfielder Born15 July 2000 No one could imagine how fast Paulinho’s development would be. After an amazing South American under-17 tournament, where he helped Brazil retain their title, the carioca returned to Vasco as member of the senior team. He impressed against Vitória on his debut, providing an assist. Eleven days later, against Atlético Mineiro, he scored twice and became the first player born in the new millennium to score in the Brazilian League. Strong, smart and fast, Paulinho has a modern style of playing and he is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Philippe Coutinho, who made his Vasco debut at 17 and now is a star for Liverpool and the Seleção. **[Thiago Rabelo](https://twitter.com/thiagorabelo1?lang=en)** **October 2018 update** Was Vasco’s best player before a fractured arm stopped his progress in April. Moved to Bayer Leverkusen for £17.5m this summer, where he was introduced from the bench in two of the first three Bundesliga games. **October 2019 update** Made 15 appearances, but no starts, during his first season in Germany but had, by mid-September, been on the bench for all the games so far. Time is on his side, though. **October 2020 update** Had his breakthrough season in the Bundesliga, playing 19 games, scoring three times and making two assists, before suffering a cruciate ligament injury in early July, just before the cup final against Bayern Munich. Unlikely to play again in 2020. **October 2021 update** It was a long road but he seems to have recovered fully from the cruciate injury suffered in 2020. Played well at the Olympics, where Brazil won gold and has started the Bundesliga season with one goal and four appearances at the time of writing. **September 2022 update** Had his best season since arriving in Germany, making 31 appearances in all competitions and scoring four goals, but is currently out of the team after a move away this summer broke down. Is out of contract next summer.