Porto confirm signing of €15m Gremio star Pepe

Cameron Smith

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 1 min read

Porto have reached an agreement with Gremio to sign forward Pepe for €15 million.

The player will stay at Gremio until the end of the season, before joining Porto on July 1.

Pepe has signed a five-year deal at Porto, with a release clause of €70m included in his contract.

Pepe has scored nine goals and assisted five in 30 Brazilian Serie A appearances this season and will bolster the attacking options at the disposal of Sérgio Conceição.

Aged 23, Pepe has already racked up 111 appearances for Gremio, scoring 25 goals and assisting 14 during that time, clearly impressing Porto scouts.

His current side Gremio sit seventh in Serie A, after 36 games, and Pepe will be following in the footsteps of former teammate Everton Soares, who left Gremio for Portugal, in his case Benfica, in the summer of 2020.

During this season, meanwhile, he has scored nine times and created five more.

Furthermore, he has experience in playing the Copa Libertadores, the South American equivalent of the Champions League. In last term’s competition, he played a starring role as Gremio made it all the way to the quarter-finals.

Porto are the reigning champions of the Primiera Liga, but currently sit second, 10 points behind leaders Sporting, this season.

The Portuguese outfit are renowned for their ability to sign young talent from Brazil and groom these players to become stars at the highest level. Pepe will hope to be Porto’s latest success story in that regard.