Pepe will not continue as a Porto player, the club's new president, André Villas-Boas, has announced. The 41-year-old Portuguese-Brazilian center-back's contract expires this month and he will not be renewing it.

Villas-Boas said that the decision not to renew Pepe's contract was made "for reasons that, unfortunately, cannot happen." He added that the club has "the utmost respect for his career."

Pepe played for Porto from 2004 to 2007 before joining Real Madrid. He returned to Porto in 2019 and became the captain and a key player for the club. In his nine seasons with Porto, Pepe has won four league titles and five Portuguese Cups, among many other trophies.

The former Real Madrid player is currently in Germany with the Portuguese national team for his fifth European Championship.

Pepe's contract renewal was a pending issue for Porto's new board of directors, whose sporting director is the Spaniard Andoni Zubizarreta. It had been described as "complex" by the team's next coach, Vítor Bruno.

Villas-Boas has been in office since May after winning the club's elections against former president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa. Pinto da Costa had indicated before the vote that the continuity of Pepe and coach Sérgio Conceição was guaranteed if he won.