After many rumours and talks with China, Inter Milan, PSG or Besiktas, Pepe finally travelled to Turkey to sign with the Istanbul team. The former Real Madrid defender will join Besiktas and he’s already showing his image in the social media with the Besiktas t-shirt.
Pepe didn’t want to renew his contract with Real Madrid because the Spanish club was offering one year deal. The Portuguese defender wanted to sign a two-year contract although he’s 34 years old, so Los Blancos didn’t want to risk with the player. His contract expired on the 30th of June, so he was a free agent to negotiate with any other club.
The defender had offers from China offering him a lot of money, but he could also sign with any European top club. PSG and Inter Milan were the clubs showing more interest, but Pepe would have faced a lot of competence in both teams. Besiktas also tried to convince him to join the Turkish League and the club even travelled to Lisbon to convince the player and the agent.
After the Confederations Cup, Pepe had to make a decision and he finally chose Besiktas, a team that will play the next Champions League. The Portuguese defender travelled this Tuesday to Istanbul and he shared on Instagram a picture of the Vodafone Arena, the Besiktas Stadium near the Bosphorus.
After 10 years defending the white t-shirt and after winning three Champions League titles, Pepe left the club without a proper farewell. The Portuguese defender was mad at Zinedine Zidane and Florentino Pérez because, he said, that they didn’t speak with them. However, the club offers him a fair one-year contract, but the Portuguese felt offended because he wanted to seal his future with two more years at the club. Hopefully, he can show also his quality in Turkey, although it will be far away from the top European leagues.
