Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 7y

Pepe happy to wait 'until the last moment' for new Real Madrid contract

Real Madrid centre-back Pepe says he will wait "until the last moment" to be offered an extension to his current contract which ends in June 2017.

Pepe, 34, has won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League twice each with Madrid since joining from Porto in 2007, but there has been no sign yet of the Madrid hierarchy offering new terms, and he would be able to talk to prospective suitors come January.

Speaking in the Bernabeu mixed-zone after he had returned from injury to play the 90 minutes in Saturday's 2-1 La Liga win over Sporting Gijon, he said that his future was "in the hands of the club" and he would wait for their offer before looking elsewhere.

"It is in the hands of the club, it's just about waiting now," Pepe said. "I have always said I will wait on Madrid until the last moment, so that's all I can do."

Madrid are well stocked for centre-halves at present, with coach Zinedine Zidane also able to call on club captain Sergio Ramos, France international Raphael Varane and home-grown back-up Nacho Fernandez.

The Bernabeu outfit also have two promising young centre-backs out on loan, with 19-year-old Jesus Vallejo earning rave reviews at Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt this season, and 23-year-old Diego Llorente getting more Primera Division experience while playing regularly for Malaga.

Local media reports have claimed that Pepe and his agent Jorge Mendes want a two-year extension to agree to stay, while the Madrid hierarchy are only prepared to offer another 12 months at this point.

Mendes' client Cristiano Ronaldo is among a number of Madrid players to sign new long-term deals recently, with Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Lucas Vazquez also putting pen to paper.

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