Barcelona midfielder Paulinho has accused former manager Mauricio Pochettino of failing to get the best out of him during his time at Tottenham Hotspur.
The Brazil international's career stalled at White Hart Lane upon Pochettino's arrival in 2014, having previously been a regular under Andre Villas-Boas and Tim Sherwood.
To the surprise of many, Paulinho revived his career at Guangzhou Evergrande and has settled seamlessly into Barca's midfield since joining from the Chinese side in the summer.
Asked why it did not work out for him at Spurs, Paulinho told the Daily Mail: "My first game with Pochettino I played in my position. But after that I played in every single position but mine.
"If you are not playing in your position in a league as competitive as England then it is difficult. In a year with him I played in my position two or three times and I played well. But that's not to say that I had a problem with Pochettino. It was his decision.
"When I went from Tottenham to China a lot of people said that was it, my career was over. I had a couple of other offers at the time but they were both loans and I would have had to go back at the end. I just wanted to play."
Paulinho has more La Liga goals this season than the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Antoine Griezmann, scoring six times in all.
Daniel Lewis
