Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has not given up in his attempts to take Real Madrid defender Pepe to the Etihad Stadium.
The Chilean has been tracking the Portuguese international all summer and has asked City director of football Txiki Begiristain to make one last effort to snare his man.
However, reports that Napoli are on the verge of signing Raul Albiol from Madrid will make the move more difficult as new Los Blancos’ boss Carlo Ancelotti will be reluctant to leave himself short of cover in central defence.
When City’s interest in Pepe was first known, the Spanish giants made it clear he was not for sale, with President Florentino Perez even calling to reassure him he was still in the club’s plans.
Even so, reports in Spain suggest a tempting offer of around €20m from the Blues would be too good to turn down for a player aged 30, despite it reducing Real’s list of available centre-backs to Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane and Nacho.
In the meantime, Alvaro Negredo is expected to confirm his move from Sevilla to the Premier League outfit shortly, while City are also trying to finalise terms on a deal for Fiorentina’s Stevan Jovetic.
