Pepe will receive a total salary of 9.5mn euros ($10.75mn), plus performance bonuses, over the two years, Besiktas said in a statement. There was no indication of the transfer fee. For years in the shadow of Istanbul rivals Fenerbahce and Galatsaray, the Black Eagles have won the Turkish Super Lig title for the last two seasons. With the title, Besiktas also claim Turkey’s sole automatic Champions League spot and will hope for a drastic improvement on their group-stage exit last time round.
Few are better qualified to help Besiktas with that goal than Pepe, who helped Real Madrid win the Champions League three times in his career. While French internationals Mathieu Valbuena and Bafetimbi Gomis have signed for Fenerbahce and Galatasaray respectively, Pepe is arguably the biggest name to arrive in Istanbul so far this summer. Pepe spent the last decade as a key member of the star-studded Real Madrid side and helped Portugal to victory in Euro 2016, winning the man-of-the-match award in the victory in the final over France.
At Besiktas, Pepe will join forces with his Portugal teammate, the winger Ricardo Quaresma, who has played for the Istanbul side from 2015 after an earlier 2010-2012 stint and is a big favourite with fans.
Real Madrid loan Coentrao to Sporting
Portuguese international left back Fabio Coentrao has been loaned to Sporting Lisbon for the 2017-2018 season although owners Real Madrid will continue to shoulder much of his salary, his new club said.
The 29-year-old with 51 Portugal caps said on Instagram he was “very happy with the opportunity to play at such a huge club” alongside a photo of himself at the stadium with his partner and children.
Sporting coach Jorge Jesus knows Coentrao from their time together at Benfica before the defender left for Madrid in 2011, where he won two La Liga titles and two Champions Leagues.
On loan at Monaco in 2015-2016 he picked up an injury late in the season and missed Portugal’s European Championship victory in France.
Coentrao went before a Spanish judge on Monday accused of tax evasion and reportedly paid out 1.7mn euros ($1.9mn) to tax authorities in a settlement.
Huddersfield sign Montpellier striker
Newly promoted Huddersfield have signed 22-year-old Montpellier forward Steve Mounie, the club announced. The Benin international who also has French nationality has agreed to a four-year contract with the Premier League club.
Mounie scored 14 goals in Ligue 1 last season and Huddersfield boss David Wagner said the player had “a very exciting combination of attributes that makes him a very attractive proposition as a young striker”. Hudderfield reportedly signed Mounie for 11.5mn pounds, a club record fee, but the club did not confirm the amount.
I’m different from dad, insists Enzo Zidane
Enzo Zidane insisted yesterday that he was a “different player” from his father Zinedine, after being unveiled at La Liga club Deportivo Alaves. “I don’t think much about that,” the 22-year-old attacking midfielder said when asked about comparisons with Zinedine Zidane, a 1998 World Cup winner feted as one of the finest talents of his generation.
“I’m Enzo, I’m different, a different player,” Zinedine’s eldest son insisted of his father, who now coaches Real Madrid, last season leading the Spanish giants to a second successive Champions League title.
Enzo Zidane signed a three-year deal with Alaves having previously played for Real Madrid’s third division reserve side Castilla of which his father was coach before taking over the reins of Real’s first team. Last season, Enzo made a scoring debut for Real in the King’s Cup, and has played 78 games for Castilla.
Deportivo Alaves, based in Vitoria-Gasteiz in the Basque country, reached the final of last season’s King’s Cup, where they lost to Barcelona.