The former Tottenham midfielder insisted he was unaware of the occupation of his co-star in the advert but has nevertheless come under fire for taking part in a commercial activity without the permission of his club, especially as both betting and pornography are illegal in China.

Despite his claims of having been deceived and subsequently terminating his agreement with the betting firm, Guangzhou Evergrande was quick to condemn the player for not carrying out "the most basic due diligence".

A Guangzhou Evergrande statement read: "We conducted an internal investigation into Paulinho as soon as we learnt of the scandal through the media. 

"After the initial enquiries, we found that Paulinho had agreed to endorse the betting company without notifying the club in advance and he had failed to do the most basic due diligence required for this endorsement."

The incident comes with speculation surrounding the future of the 28 year-old, who has scored 19 goals in 75 matches for Guangzhou since joining from Tottenham in 2015.

He netted a hat-trick in Brazil's 4-1 World Cup qualifying victory over Uruguay last month and is reportedly a transfer target of Bayern Munich and Barcelona.