Lionel Messi was such an important player at Barcelona that he not only shone on the pitch, but also made important decisions off it. The Argentine striker had a lot of power when it came to giving his opinion on the club's future signings and recently a former player of the Spanish team made a revelation about the role of the No.10 in his arrival in LaLiga. Messi is a legend at Barcelona and if he could help the club to close signings he would not have a problem in doing so. The No.10 occupied a very special place in the Catalan team and his figure was so important that he could convince any player to join the team. The 'signing' that Leo Messi facilitated for Barcelona The player who was convinced by Messi to join Barcelona was Brazilian Paulinho, who in a recent interview revealed the Argentine's curious strategy to convince him to go to the Catalan team, all in the middle of a friendly match. The Brazilian midfielder spoke to Barca Universal and explained how it all came about. "Messi approached me. We were playing a friendly against Argentina in Australia. The referee had just blown for a foul and I was next to the ball with Willian. Suddenly, Leo comes up to me, looks me in the eye and says: 'So, are we going to Barcelona or not?'. Just like that. Without any explanation." At that time, I was playing in the Chinese Super League with Guangzhou Evergrande, and no one would believe that Barcelona would be interested in me. I thought Messi was joking, as if he was trying to manipulate me to distract me during the match Paulinho The midfielder explained that he could not believe what Messi had told him, so he had to confirm with his agent. "After the game, I called my agent and said: 'Boss, for God's sake, I'm going crazy! Tell me if this is real or not!'. I was so desperate that I even thought about writing to Neymar to see if he knew anything. A month later, my agent called me and said: 'The deal is done. You have to come to Barcelona to sign the papers'." Paulinho's brief spell at Barcelona Paulinho's signing at Barcelona was as surprising as it was brief. The Brazilian arrived from Guangzhou Evergrande in China and spent just one year with the team, where he scored 10 goals and provided six assists, pretty good numbers for his first year. Despite Messi's great interest in having Paulinho join the team, the midfielder did not leave the best impression at the club. His time was very brief and is not well remembered by fans, however, he can say that it was Messi himself who forged his arrival at Barcelona.
