Not one of the most successful players bought by Spurs and he had the misfortune to be brought in by Christian Gross, who unfortunately did not receive the opportunity to shape the team as he would wish.
The defender had a strange stuttering gait when running and although he had a good strike on him from a free-kick, scoring on his debut in a friendly at Peterborough, he always looked like he was ambling around and the sense of urgency appeared alien to his nature from the outside.
His floppy blonde fringe was reminiscent of so many youngsters who came through the Tottenham ranks who didn't make it and his six appearances replicated the progress some of those youth teamers made. But this was a player who had been at Internazionale and Atalanta.
His debut in an opening day defeat at Wimbledon was not auspicious, especially being followed by a 0-3 loss at home to Sheffield Wednesday. His days in the side were numbered before he got injured and when Gross departed, he had no place in George Graham's scheme of things at White Hart Lane.
Spurs finally found a club in his homeland to take him and for a nominal fee, Tottenham released him. Back in Italy, he was pining for his children who lived with his wife after they separated and he moved clubs to be closer to them.
On his move to Pro Patria, a side playing in the C1 Girone regional league, Paolo has moved into midfield and is captain of the side. He still has his blonde hair, but the floppy side is much longer than the other in a Phil Oakey style !! Turned out for his club at the age of 38 in 2008, when he played 12 games that season.