Paulinho to make his 2nd China debut this weekend

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Paulinho has been allowed to take a badly needed breather before making his second Guangzhou Evergrande appearance on Saturday.

The bustling Brazil international rejoined the Chinese Super League (CSL) champions on loan from Barcelona after starring in the World Cup this summer.

According to Guangzhou-based Information Times, he is set to miss the midweek CSL clash against Guizhou Zhicheng and will finally make his highly-anticipated participation in the game against Shanghai SIPG this weekend.

The 29-year-old, who will be joined by fellow Brazilian Anderson Talisca, on loan from Benfica, received a rapturous welcome from Evergrande fans as he touched down in Guangzhou on Sunday. The Barca star arrived back from Kazan, where Brazil were eliminated from the World Cup by Belgium.

Paulinho enjoyed a brilliant season with Barcelona, scoring nine goals in 49 appearances across all competitions and winning the La Liga title.

Guangzhou Evergrande will have the option to sign Paulinho from Barcelona permanently at the end of the season. /VCG Photo

"After training with Evergrande and Barcelona and the experience of playing for Brazil’s national team in the World Cup, I hope to bring more championships to the Guangzhou team and its fans as well as more excitement to the CSL,” said Paulinho in a statement.

Fabio Cannavaro's side are gearing up for his return to action after some time off over the World Cup hiatus. They last played a competitive fixture on May 20 and disappointingly lost 2-0 to Guizhou Renhe.

Despite that defeat, Evergrande remain Shanghai SIPG's rivals at the top of CSL and are six points off Vítor Pereira's side.

Paulinho will have to endure another summer without a break.The midfielder landed at Barcelona last summer when the CSL was still underway and now, where he'd ordinarily have a summer vacation, he is instead being thrown into Evergrande's plans right away.