Real Madrid defender Pepe isn’t thinking about the prospect of playing Luis Suarez when Barcelona visit Santiago Bernabeu.
Suarez is currently banned for four months from all football and as it stands, the first game he can play for Barca is the first Clasico of the season in late October, pending an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport that could see his suspension reduced.
Pepe took a diplomatic stance when the subject of the Uruguay international was raised, AS reports the centre-back as laughing when asked the question by reporters.
“There’s a lot of time before then. The first game we have is against Cordoba and we have to win that and that’s to our liking,” he said.
“We’ll talk about that game when it arrives.”
Madrid are competing on six fronts next season and Pepe was asked if the club can achieve success in each one of them, the defender preaching a patient approach.
“Madrid always go on the pitch to win. Let’s take it game by game,” he said.
“We have a lot of quality but we have to go step by step.”
He was also questioned about his new look after turning up for pre-season training with his hair in dreadlocks.
Laughing again, Pepe explained his reasons for the new look.
“I’d wanted to do something like this with my hair since I was a child and since I had more time I did it,” he revealed.
Pepe also gave his thoughts on the signing of James Rodriguez, the fitness of Cristiano Ronaldo and the form of Gareth Bale.
