Chelsea have been linked with the Brazilian international for a number of weeks now and in light of his current contract situation at the club they could in fact sign him with minimal contact with their Club World Cup conquerors.
Earlier in the week we ran a story on the several mounting reasons why Chelsea would not be signing Paulinho in the January transfer window. From his previous unhappy experience playing football on the European continent to his general desire to remain in Brazil until after the 2014 World Cup; as appears to be the case with many of Brazil’s brightest stars such as Neymar, Damiao etc.
Another reason why Chelsea would not be signing him related to his rather messy contract situation with the club. Considering in the past the types of difficulties such arrangements have created in the signing of players from South America; and indeed Corinthians in the case of Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez at West Ham it may prove yet another turn-off for the Chelsea hierarchy.
Although there could be a silver lining in the latter option if Chelsea truly do want to bring the Brazilian international to Stamford Bridge.
At the moment Corinthians almost have zero rights when it comes to discussing his potential exit; as they only own 10% of his footballing rights. On a footballing basis the recently crowned Club World Champions will not want to lose their star player. They are trying to grow on that success and have shown their ambition with the signing of Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Renato Augusto in the past couple of days.
However 90% of his rights are owned by third parties. Firstly his previous club own 45% of his shares, in a roundabout way. His former club is Audax Sao Paolo who were previously known as Pao de Acucar; named after Grupo Pao de Acucar the large retail chain that owns the club and when Pulinho left in 2005 they retained 45% of his rights; realising the potential in his talent. The other 45% per cent is owned by a banking company called BMG.
In that respect if Chelsea wanted to buy him outright they could simply bypass Corinthians and approach the two companies about selling an asset. While they would still have to pay the Brazilian club for the 10% they own, due to strict third party ownership rules in the Premier League post-Tevez-saga, it would be a fraction of the sum that the two companies would be asking for.
Previously both have been accused of attempting to sell their shares in the player to potential bidders. Pao de Acucar reportedly spoke at length with Russian side CSKA Moscow while BMG attempted a similar transaction with Inter Milan.
Both companies did not feel their valuation was being met and the deals fell apart but if Chelsea were to be more persistent they could practically bypass the club entirely to get their man.
While it may not be considered the moral way to do things in football it would not be illegal and Chelsea could get their man as a result.
If Paulinho wants to sign that is.
Do you think Chelsea should be able to negotiate with companies for a players service rather then his current club?
image: © Ben Sutherland
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