Premier League duo Chelsea and Manchester City have been put on alert after Real Madrid put contract talks with defender Pepe on hold.
The Daily Mirror says new Los Blancos boss Rafa Benitez wants to assess how the Portugal defender performs first before handing him a new deal. Benitez has decided the time is right to promote Raphael Varane to first team duties alongside Sergio Ramos, meaning 32-year-old Pepe will need to be prepared to accept a lesser playing role next season.
Pepe was keen to sort out a new contract soon and may be disappointed to hear the talks are on hold. He has one year left on his contract at the Santiago Bernbeu, meaning he will be free to talk to other clubs in January about a free transfer elsewhere. Should Real decide to cash in now, they would ask for a 10 million euro fee.
Chelsea are on the lookout for a new central defender and boss Jose Mourinho is a big fan of Pepe. Manchester City have enquired about Pepe on a number of occasions and could look to revive their interest and replace the error prone Martin Demichelis in the side. Pepe has played 286 times for Real since joining from Porto in 2007.
realmadrid should give pepe a new contract(2 years contracts)and they should sell him beginning of 2016/17 season.they should bring Nicolas otamendi and loan out fernandez nacho for one season to have playing time then bring him back when pepe leaves.
realmadrid should loan Fernandez nacho out to chelsea or man city to have first team playing time.
they should give pepe a new contract and loan nacho