Real Madrid: Five most underrated players in the club’s history

3. Pepe

Pepe joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2007 from Porto in a nearly 30 million Euros transfer deal. Pepe was unlucky with his career in Real Madrid. He stayed prone to injuries and often found himself in heated situations lending him up with suspensions.

Right before the away Clasico fixture in the 2007-08 season, he was involved in a fight with his teammate Javier Balboa during training. However, he was called back for the match against Barca where the Portuguese put on a MOTM performance in a 1-0 win for Los Blancos at Camp Nou, and eventually Real were the crowned champions of La Liga.

The next season stayed full of injuries for the big defender. Further on 21 April 2009, he was involved in one of the ugliest incidents in La Liga history. Getafe’s Javier Casquero was brought down inside the penalty area by Pepe and the scoreline read 2-2 at that time. He was sent off by the referee upon which the Portuguese kicked Casquero twice on the shin and once on the lower back that resulted in a 10 match ban and an end to his season.

The 2009-10 season was another injury-prone season. This time, he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament. He missed a good part of the season and jeopardized his chances at the 2010 World Cup. When Jose Mourinho joined Real as the manager, Pepe could shine brighter in defense paired with Sergio Ramos and Richard Carvalho.

He tried his luck with positional changes and played as a defensive midfielder in the 2010-11 season. He went on to become an important name for Los Blancos in defense and it is no surprise that he won the treble (La Liga, Copa del Rey, and UCL) with Real Madrid before moving to the Turkish Club, Besiktas on a free transfer.