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Now his partners on the field are Neymar and other Brazilian stars. He is being pursued by wealthy European clubs. But Paulinho signed his first professional contract with the Lithuanian football club "Vilnius," writes "Lietuvos rytas."
Algimantas Breikštas still keeps the contract with the signature through which Paulinho confirmed his first professional agreement in his career.
This document helped the businessman win three symbolic bets with football enthusiasts who did not believe that the current Brazilian national team player had played in our country's A league - in the "Vilnius" club.
Seven years ago, Paulinho's journey began there, which is now leading through the Confederations Cup tournament in Brazil.
Paulinho scored one of the three goals for the Brazilian national team in the first tournament match, where the hosts defeated Japan 3-0.
"I think Paulinho owes a big bottle to our coaches, with whom he once crossed the hot front line," smiled A. Breikštas, who in 2006 discovered Paulinho in one of the Brazilian leagues.
Watching the matches of the San Paulo youth league, A. Breikštas noticed the talented defender of the "Pao de Acucar" team.
The Vilnius businessman negotiated with the Brazilians that Paulinho would move to Vilnius for 75,000 euros - half of the asked price, but the rights to the footballer remain with the Brazilian club.
When seventeen-year-old Paulinho, along with a few compatriots and coach Caio Zanardi, joined the recently formed "Vilnius" team, he had to wait for his debut in the A league.
Lithuanian clubs could only make contracts with adult footballers, and Paulinho had to wait for a couple of months until he turned 18 in July 2006.
The Brazilian legion had caused a stir in the Lithuanian championships - in May 2007, "Vilnius," coached by Antanas Vingilis, even climbed to the first place in the A league, surpassing "Kaunas" and "Žalgiris."
Paulinho proved to be a very hardworking and determined player,” remembers A. Breikštas, whose Vilnius team played at one time even 10 Brazilians. - Many said that Brazilians are crybabies and lazy, but he never complained or pretended.
“I was convinced that he would grow into a good footballer. But I could not have imagined such a level - not even in the most beautiful dream."
In 2007, the businessman also became a shareholder of the Lodz GKS club.
Suddenly, with the collapse of Vilnius' club ambitions, Paulinho moved to the Polish club. He left Lithuania in the summer of 2007, scoring 5 goals for the Vilnius team in 38 matches.
A. Breikštas said he received an offer to buy all the rights to Paulinho for 150,000 euros, but at that time, paying that much money seemed risky.
He said he had pressed the coach of the Lodz team to give playing time to the young Brazilian, but after playing 17 matches in Poland, Paulinho returned to his former club in Brazil.
