The very last time Pepe put on his Real Madrid kit and ran on to the pitch, it wasn’t to play. Képler Laveran Lima Ferreira joined team-mates in celebrations at the Santiago Bernabéu on Sunday evening wearing all white, knowing that he will not be back. The day before, he had been left out of the squad for the Champions League final at the Millennium Stadium; the night after, he finally confirmed what had long been an open secret: “It’s clear that I won’t be continuing at Madrid,” he said. There was sadness as he said it. There was a touch of bitterness, too. Ten years on, he was going.
At 34 and into the final year of his contract, Pepe had publicly said he would wait for Madrid “until the end”, but eventually gave up in April. He wanted to stay and asked for a two-year deal; Madrid offered only one. Most of his stuff has been in storage for the past two months, shipped back to Portugal, awaiting his next destination, which appears likely to be France. He knew it would end but it was not supposed to be like this. Everyone else knew it too, even as he kept silent – not least because he kept silent, in fact. He was the only player, with Fábio Coentrão, nowhere to be seen at the club’s pre-final media day.
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