Before going to Madrid, Pepe was about to sign for Déportivo La Coruña!

Pepe was shining as one of the best defenders around when Real Madrid took an interest in him, so did Deportivo de La Coruña. He himself told this story in 'Expresso' and confessed that he did not miss much to travel to Galicia.

"My signing with Real Madrid? Everything went very quickly. I could have gone earlier, but not to Madrid, but to Deportivo de La Coruña. It was at the end of my first year in Porto," explained the defender. At that time, the side were in first division and, more specifically, that season, they finished eighth in the table.

The player, in this same interview, spoke of his humble beginnings in his native country. He himself explained that he started with only five euros, in addition to other anecdotes from when he was not so well known. Nowadays, it is difficult to find a football fan who does not know who he is.

Dépor, nowadays, lives a very different reality from the one when they tried to sign the young Pepe. Rubén de la Barrera's team has just started a new stage with this coach after the dismissal of Fernando Vázquez, who also said goodbye to the club with some choice words for the management.