Paulinho is confident that he will complete a move to Barcelona this week after admitting that he never dreamed of receiving interest from the La Liga giants.

The 28-year-old midfielder ended a disappointing two-year spell with Tottenham in 2015 and rebooted his career in China with Guangzhou Evergrande.

Paulinho is still a regular for Brazil – scoring a hat-trick in a 4-3 victory against Uruguay in March – and has reportedly persuaded Barca to lodge a €20m bid (Dh83.7m).

“My reaction to Barca’s interest? I felt like I was floating in a cloud, thinking about whether it could be true or not,” Paulinho told Mundo Deportivo.

“I still have to talk to my (Guangzhou’s) president. I haven’t stopped thinking about Barca’s offer, and I’m hoping to resolve everything this week.

“Did I imagine a club like Barca making me an offer? The truth is that I couldn’t have imagined it.”