Adios Pepe?

His renovation is at a stand still, it's very rare for Madrid to let a contract run through if they intend to keep a player, and Pepe (according to Marca) has big offers from China.

Everything points to him leaving, unless there is some form of late agreement between Pepe and the club.

Good player throughout, with good and bad moments as always, but he remained dedicated and helped us win 2 CLs, and 2-3 la liga, which is an great return in almost 10 years at the club. Good luck to him

To replace him, the club will most likely draw on either Llorente or Vallejo. The hype is strong with Vallejo right now.

So we are looking at Ramos, Varane, Nacho, Vallejo as CBs for next year

Very likely as if the rumors are true, Vallejo is having a great season in Germany. I'd prefer Pepe to stay for another season though.

This news sounds good to me. Like Nick said- he is certainly a player of highs and lows. It is probably good timing to part ways now.

I am in a place where i feel like we should not lose players like pepe, because of experience, because of how good he is when it gets tough, because he turns on his level when it matters and does what is expected, because of how long he has been with us.

In a way, it means that Varane time is now, it's the natural transition we have been preparing for 4 years (impressive it went so well when you think about it), but behind Ramos-Varane, we have Nacho and vallejo, kids. We are losing on paper, that's the only thing pinching me right now.

When you have a squad like ours that has been rolling for the past few years, it's a tough loss. Pepe is one of those key piece we built around in the past 7-8 years. the leadership and presence will be missed.

I think the story may change if Varane gets injured again. The only thing that has held the kid back is health... and until he finishes a season healthy, it should be an issue.

whatevs

Vallejo is better than Sule right hans? I know u wish he was German so you could sign him

Hapless has always called Perez a racist without any proof. But one thing he definitely is, is an ageist. As soon as you turn 34/35 he wants nothing to do with you anymore. Like there is an age limit for how useful you'll be. Pepe should just accept the year extension and take it from there. He wants to retire with us and being forced to retire at 35 won't be so bad. He's vowed to wait until the day it expires so we'll see. The Club is basically forcing the best CB in the world to move aside. What club does that. All these rumours of Courtois because Navas is 30 gtfo with that. Proper discriminatory board we have

Hope Ronaldo steps in for his boy. We should rip Coentraos contract and use the left over money to renew Pepe's contract

Hold on a sec. The club has repeatedly said they want Pepe (fot that matter entire squad) for next season. That was before ban was lifted, but they have always said they want to retain him. Pepe has said similar. The difference is club want a one year deal and Pepe two. His age is the reasoning of both positions. Vallejo and Llorente are the backup plans and don't forget the progress Nacho has made this season. I said before that Pepe has played this game before but the difference this time is the youth and Varane diminishing his bargaining posture. So I don't fault the club nor Pepe for this. The fact that there is good money for aging players in not only China, USA and Qatar, seems only natural for aging players hang on for a couple last years.

It still wouldn't surprise me to see Pepe accept the offer with perhaps some sort of option, for both parties, for a second year.

If Llorente and Vallejo turn out good, the CB is the least of the club's concerns.

Hopefully he takes the year extension but it wouldn't surprise me if he chooses the China route. Good money out in those parts. In any case, he has done good to great service for the club and the club has paid him handsomely for it as well.

Both scenarios I can live with pretty normally.

agree with doc, both scenarios make sense. if he stays for next season, it'll probably be an addition to squad depth. but if he lives its understandable; he's not getting any younger and has had his share of injuries over the years. always liked his attitude, even though like the rest of our defense he can have his issues. but a committed player nonetheless. i think my best game from him was our 1 nil (the baptista goal, from a ruud van nistelrooy assist) win at the nou camp in his first season. pepe played some astute defense on ronaldinho and eto'o in that game

I can understand if the Club wants to move on with two very talented CBs out on loan currently but Pepe is no ordinary player. He is a Club legend and the Club has treated him like an expendable hanger on like other legends before him. I thought they'd changed but unfortunately not. Hopefully he extends for a year and retires after that with a big sending off. With the way the club treated Raul and co I won't hold my breath. Cue the day they think Ronaldo is past his sell by date

He's not a legend Hala.  He was a trainwreck other than the past 3 seasons.  Not to take anything away from his fantastic past 3 seasons...  but that's the just the truth of it.  3 good seasons and 7 mostly awful ones ( he had 1 good season under Mourinho comparatively).

You could say the same thing about Ramos honestly... but Ramos is Spanish AND he has scored trophy winning goals regularly. He's much more than just a defender for Real Madrid. His Spain NT legend carries weight with his club status as well.

Yeah, I wouldn't deem him a legend for the club. Much better and iconic defenders still ahead of him. That being said, I'll personally fondly remember his time here whenever he departs from the club considering he was immense with our 2 UCL wins.

With the money available in China, USA and Qatar, you don't see aging players retiring from their long time clubs. And you can't blame them for taking the money available in these 2nd rate leaques.

I think Pepe has been great and the club has treated him well. It's not the club chasing him away, it a difference of opinion in terms of a contract to an aging player. To me great if he stays but on the other hand we do have players to step into his role as well as two very promising youth to give us the bench strength we need.

nothing wrong with how the club treated raul, he couldn't start and didn't want to come off the bench. and in reality, he wasn't the raul of old, he had a bunch of lackluster years that certain sections of the madrid media pretended weren't happening. but back to pepe....CB hasn't been a position with which we have thrived in, pepe was certainly a step up from the likes of walter samuel woodgate cannavaro (who was a really awful defender with us imo) pavon carlos diogo et al.....i'd take pepe over helguera too. helguera was good when he had hierro alongside him

How in the hell you remembered Carlos Diogo?

the terrible decisions that management made in that time period are very hard to forget....and trust me, i tried my best to forget about some of those decisions

We actually used real money to purchase him and I can't remember a single game he was in.

Apparently Pepe is going to wait until end of season before deciding. The offer from the club is one year PLUS an option for a second year.

Meanwhile Vallejo is home for Christmas and press is all over him re replacing Pepe. Looks like the kid has a very level head though.

I still think that Pepe choice will be stay relevant on the biggest club in world for one maybe two more years or go and make excellent money in a second rate league. The major issue here is that Chinese money for a couple of pre retirement years will still be there in another year or two.

Note to Hala - there is no way club is forcing him out or treating him badly. As I said earlier, no one is retiring at their big club anymore with this type of money available in pre-retirement years. You talk about Raul - he will tell you that he has had a great pre-retirement (for him and his family) going on for 4 or 5 years! It's hard for these stars to accept they are getting long in tooth and perhaps lost a bit, but on the other side they still have enough talent to play a few more years in 2nd rate leagues and the money is great.

Just out of curiosity, assume Pepe does go and Vallejo comes in. Is it a given that it's Varane Ramos starting with Nacho Vallejo the backups?

and does Llorente come in at some point (perhaps when Ramos leaves)?

All this of course depends very much on the continued development of Vallejo and Llorente!

What I'm wondering about is Nacho. I used to think he was a perpetual 4th CB, but he has surprised me both at club and seleccion this season, whereas Varane has had some problems (in addition to staying healthy) these past 2 seasons.

@Bill, Pepe has said many times that he is planning on retiring in 2 years. I'd be very surprised if after the club gave him 2 years he leaves to make some more money. Raul recieved a crappy send off but like tito said he just refused to leave after seasons of bordering on mediocrity. Pepe is coming back off an excellent year where he was rock both for his club and country. Even with all these injuries he is recently having he can still be useful for another 2 seasons. He has never made a single noise when put on the bench. An excellent servant to this club and a rare treasure. An extension is the least he deserves

2nd point, I think the Club wants to make Varane a mainstay in the XI but apart from his early promise under Mou he has failed to live up to his potential and kind of stagnated. Still don't think Vallejo will come in and take Varane's place in the 11 though if he got an injury and Vallejo impressed, Varane's moaning will probably fall ok deaf ears compare to how sensitive it is at the moment with a nearly retired starting CB combo

If both Pepe and Coentrao leave I dont see the problem in calling back Llorente and Vallejo and using Nacho as a back up LB. It's time for a new era imo. Even if I continue to be butthurt about the club's refusal to give Pepe his 2 years I can totally understand it. We have many young players ready to take over from the ageing lot and there is no better time than now to do it. We have had a successful 3 years and it's important to phase the old lot out slowly and bring in the new lot. That Pepe for Varane is long overdue, it was initially planned 3/4 seasons ago but the club could not forsee Pepe staying so injury free and playing at such a high level for so long. They probably thought enough is enough

Again Hala club is offering an extension for the price Pepe wants. It's just a disagreement on term. Club is saying one year and an option (I assume club's disgression) for a second year whereas Pepe wants 2 years. Club is not forcing him at all!

And re Raul (he is my all time favourite by the way), nothing was done wrong to him. He left on his own when he lost (on his own) his starter status. No different than Xabi. Both saw the writing on the wall in where they stood in pecking order. I would have liked them both to have accepted a secondary role (Raul did for a year), but these guys are so used to being front and centre that going to a lessor team (or in Xabi's case to a team / coach that better appeciated what he had to offer) allowed them to finish their careers in the limelight. You seem to want club to field a mediocre lineup of aging past starters!!!

i would perfer if lorente came instead of vallejo, vallejo is still 19 and can still polish more of his defensive skills in germany.

lorente is as good as nacho and can be a great player for madrid.

I think one year with another year based on a number of terms (possibly impossible to achieve) at a club like ours is another way of saying we'll give you a year to sort yourself out but please bugger off at the end of it. I don't think we've ever done that kind of deal before. Those sort of deals are the kind EPL clubs do not us or Barca etc.

Raul and Xabi are not comparable. Xabi wanted to leave out of the blue. Raul's case is similar to Iker's and probably will be similar to Ronaldo's with the massive contract he's now received when he loses it conpletely.

I had no problems with both Iker and Raul leaving as they were past their best. They could have been thanked better than they were. Arbeloa was given a bigger sending off thab they conbined. "You seem to want club to start a mediocre line up with past and ageing players" what in God's name gave you that impression