Pepe left Real Madrid in the summer for Besiktas and has excelled in the Turkish top flight.

Besiktas announced his arrival in Turkey with a social media campaign called ‘Come to Besiktas’, where Ricardo Quaresma - a recent capture himself - was filmed calling Pepe to convince him to join.

Besiktas have since used the same campaign - and Pepe was in no doubt who is his top transfer target.

"If I could choose and if it were possible, of course I would like for Cristiano Ronaldo to come here," he said ahead of tonight’s Champions League clash with Porto.

"He's a person for whom I have maximum respect.

"Off the pitch, Cristiano is an extremely normal person.

“People talk without knowing the real Cristiano. He's a normal person with normal habits like us.

“He's demonstrated that he's a good father and he also has a lot of time for his sons.

"He stresses the importance of being a father which I think is important. He's does this perfectly and naturally."

Pepe, 34, quit Real Madrid after 10 years at the Bernabeu.

And the Portugal international explained why he joined Besiktas.

"I had many offers from many big, important European clubs," he said.

"When Besiktas came to me with their offer and their project - it grabbed my attention. Many people sending me messages on social media, to my wife as well and those around me.

"I couldn't turn my back on all this affection. I spent a lot of time in Spain and Portugal as well.

“But here it's like nothing I've experienced before. Here, Turkish people live football. Football is a passion of theirs. They demonstrate it with love and affection for their team."