World Cup 2018: 4 Barcelona players who can dominate the World Cup

#3 Paulinho (Brazil)

Paulinho in a training session with Brazil

Not the fanciest player at the Camp Nou, Paulinho's transfer to Barcelona stirred controversy all around the globe.

A Premier League flop, as people called him, Paulinho made the jump from China to Spain last summer and was a key part of the double winning Barcelona squad under new manager Ernesto Valverde.

However, Paulinho is still far from getting a healthy status in the Barcelona society. While the majority of fans consider him as unfit for the Barcelona system and philosophy, Paulinho's physicality has made him a crucial part of the Brazil squad under Tite.

"Paulinho speaks for himself... his career speaks for itself. He is a Confederations Cup champion, he participated in the Club World Cup [of 2015], he deserves his spot, looking at current form too, not only his past.” - Tite

Paulinho is expected to hit at least 50 appearances for Brazil by the time Russia 2018 is over.

Finishing top in their qualification group, Brazil had help from their star-studded attacking lineup. The Seleção scored 41 goals in their 18 qualifiers, a whopping nine goals more than second placed Uruguay.

While players like Neymar and Coutinho were expected to lead the goal-scoring charts, Paulinho made way for himself and scored six goals in the campaign, only one short of Brazil goal-leader Gabriel Jesus.

Paulinho's physicality and leadership would be crucial in Brazil's fight for the World Cup title in Russia. He is expected to be a regular starter for the national side in next month's tournament.