Pepe confirms he is leaving: "Real Madrid only offered me one year"
The central defender was the special guest on last night's El Partidazo programme and says he is studying offers from PSG, Inter Milan and England...
Real Madrid defender Pepe was the special guest on last night's El Partidazo programme on La COPE. Speaking from the Cidade do Futebol in Oieras where the Portugal squad are preparing for their forthcoming internationals, Pepe confirmed that he will be leaving Real Madrid when his contract expires on 30 June.
Pepe admits he will be moving on
Future far from Real Madrid: "Yes, it's quite clear that I won't be continuing at Real Madrid. The past 10 years have been filled with pride. I gave the club my heart and soul. I decided that I would leave in January when I saw that talks were not going anywhere and the way I was being treated by the club wasn't ideal. That was when I started to mentally prepare myself for the realization that my time at Real Madrid was coming to an end. I have given everything for Real Madrid".
What next? "I haven't signed anything with another club. I could have, but I wantde to wait because we had important matches to play and I didn't want to destabilize the team by making some big announcement. I'm excited about starting out with another club and I will give everything I have to give".
Premier League calling Pepe?
Inter Milan or Paris Saint-Germain? "I have more offers - not just PSG and Inter. For example, I have received offers from England".
Florentino: "My relationship with him isn't bad. I don't have any problems with him or anyone else at the club. It's a period of my life which is coming to an end which I understand and accept as a professional".
Pepe, grateful for Rafa Benítez's sincerity and direct approach
Who is the best coach you have worked for? "That's a tough one! (laughs). All of them have been great coaches and I've learned a lot from each and every one. I liked Rafa Benítez's sincerity. He is a very direct person. I wasn't his first choice but he told me that I had to compete to earn a place in the team. He was always very open and clear with me".
Zidane: "I don't want to blame anyone. What he's done at Madrid is spectacular but there are some things which I don't understand. I cannot explain why I disappeared from the team in the last few games. With Zidane, we let on to him but we didn't say our goodbyes. Zidane and Madrid knew that I was leaving before I did".