Quotes from Paulinho

I'm happy to be scoring important goals in the national team and here in Guangzhou, too.

I've had the opportunity to play with Neymar on the national team. Now I'm playing alongside Messi. He's a different player, but he's the best player in the world.

I have always fought to play for great clubs and to play for the Brazilian national team.

I hope to build a beautiful story here with Spurs like I did with Corinthians.

I wouldn't say it was a relief to leave Spurs but it was clear I had to. It was a difficult time.

Never mind where you are, you have to fight until the end. It's important you never give up.

A lot of people felt it was difficult for me to come to Barca because I was playing in China. Nevertheless, I have achieved my dream and I am enjoying each day.

I had no problem with Pochettino.

You have to go to sleep at night staring at the wall, thinking, 'Damn, I can't wait for it to be morning so I can have the ball at my feet again!' You can only play your best football in these conditions.

When I was 19 years old, I quit football completely. For about a month, I stayed at home in a depression. This was in the summer of 2008.

My first steps in football came thanks to my big brother who taught me the game.

When I left Tottenham for China i knew I would be further away but my main objective was to play because I wasn't playing and I decided to move on.

As for Iniesta, he does things in training and in games that I've never seen before. He is an example to follow. You think he might touch the ball four times and yet he only makes one touch. He's unpredictable.

When I went from Tottenham to China a lot of people said that was it, my career was over. I had a couple of other offers at the time but they were both loans and I would have had to go back at the end. I just wanted to play.

I am a player who helps in defence but I have played in a more attacking position during my career and I like to be close the opposition area.

I am very good friends with Oscar and David Luiz, and Ramires at Chelsea is another one I see.

If you look at my career it has always been about overcoming difficulties in different places.

Tite gives me absolute freedom to do what I have always done throughout my career.

Fans who showed me a lot of affection during my three years at Corinthians continue to follow me.

When someone is playing alongside the best player in the world, you just have to do what you need to do to make him the best and ensure that the ball gets to him as quickly and as often as possible.

Whatever the circumstances, playing alongside the best in the world is something I can tell my kids about.

I've always been this kind of player: since youth level I've been a midfielder who can arrive and finish.

I did not have to prove anything to people who doubted me, just to my team-mates and to Barcelona. The best thing is to do it on the field, with victories, with goals. But more than the goals is winning matches.

When I was a kid, I used to love playing football so much that I genuinely wouldn't be able to fall asleep at night.