5 players who flopped in the Premier League but flourished elsewhere

5. Paulinho

Paulinho's Barcelona success came as a shock after his struggles at Tottenham

Signed by Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2013 as part of Andre Villas-Boas’s attempt to rebuild his squad following the £80m sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, Brazil’s Paulinho cost Spurs a then-club record fee of £17m, and he was expected to star in their midfield for years to come.

Unfortunately, that never happened. Paulinho struggled for form from the beginning at White Hart Lane, and was sent off against Liverpool in what turned out to be Villas-Boas’ final match in charge of Spurs. While he continued to struggle under new boss Tim Sherwood, things only got worse for the Brazilian when Mauricio Pochettino took charge at the club in the 2014/15 season.

Paulinho was largely played out of position and hit rock bottom with an embarrassing miss in an April 2015 game against Burnley. That summer saw him sold to Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande, and for all intents and purposes, his career appeared to be over.

Somehow though, the Brazilian regained form during his time in China – enough so that Barcelona stunned everyone by signing him for €40m in the summer of 2017. And while he lasted just one year at Barca before returning to China, he played remarkably well – scoring 9 goals in 49 appearances as the Blaugrana won La Liga and the Copa del Rey. Based on his Tottenham form, nobody could’ve seen it coming.