We’ve only just finished reporting on Chelsea interest in one Porto player, and already another has popped up.
Sport Witness have translated reports from Portugal claiming that we are interested in Pepe, who has impressed in the north of Portugal since making the move, but also is reaching the prime age where Liga NOS clubs like to sell on their stars to maximise profit to be reinvested.
He’s got a €60m release clause, but it’s doubtful we would need to pay the full thing.
Newcastle are also linked, although given their FFP issues we can’t see them paying over the odds either.
Pepe has picked up a couple of Brazil caps now and is in their squad for the upcoming Copa America. We would expect very little movement until that tournament is conclude.
Not an ideal Chelsea signing
In all honesty, the Evenilson links from earlier today make more sense as he’s a striker, and one who would likely be content with rotating with Nicolas Jackson or even being a definitive second choice.
Pepe on the other hand is a left winger. Chelsea are definitely in the market for an elite wide option, with Michael Olise favourite right now, but they have a number of players on the left and Pepe doesn’t seem to represent a major upgrade on any of them.
He’s also 27. We can’t really see Chelsea’s current sporting directors going for him at all, given he’s above their preferred age backet and likely wouldn’t come cheap. He’s valued at €30m on TransferMarkt, and there is no easy contract situation or cheap release clause to exploit.
To us, this sounds a lot more like the player’s agent or Porto themselves putting Chelsea’s name in the mix to try and raise interest and prices if they do sell the Brazil international.
