Introducing Endrick is almost unnecessary. This young Brazilian, aged 17, had surprised his whole country with the young teams of Palmeiras, before breaking into the limelight during his appearances with the U17s of the Brazilian national team. Naturally, this had caught the eye of the big clubs in Europe. Despite being courted by FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, the kid from Brasília had decided to trust the Madrid project, and was signed for the astonishing sum of 70 million euros at the age of 16 (https://www.footmercato.net/a7118066364582887267-le-real-madrid-casse-sa-tirelire-pour-soffrir-la-pepite-endrick).
Endrick is finally starting to come to terms with his transfer to Real Madrid. With this transfer, Endrick became the second biggest sale in the history of Brazilian football, behind Neymar who was sold to FC Barcelona in 2013 for 88 million euros, and ahead of Vinícius Jr, who went to Real Madrid in 2018 for 45 million euros. Although he has to wait until he turns 18 to join Los Merengues, this transfer has already been difficult to handle for the Palmeiras forward. He was silent for weeks, but Endrick has now found his footing, especially during the last leg of the Brazilian Championship. Recently, the left-footed player has been unstoppable.
Already praised by the local media, he excelled in the clash against Botafogo by scoring twice. His magnificent solo run was followed by a superbly controlled shot at the edge of the area, and he was later involved in another goal that allowed Palmeiras to secure a win in a crazy match that even provoked a strong outburst by John Textor, the owner of Botafogo.
Endrick was not content with just a sensational second half against Botafogo. He only needed six minutes to score in the clash against Athletico Paranaense, where his “rival” Vitor Roque was absent due to injury. This goal allowed Sao Paulo to chain five consecutive victories in Serie A and draw level with Botafogo. “I feel very calm. Sometimes I am a bit nervous, but I don’t know why, in this match I came with great calm in my heart. This goal is normal for me, because I have scored a lot of goals like that,” said Endrick after his winning goal against Athletico (1-0).
With this streak of goals, Endrick is now Palmeiras’ top scorer in Brasileirao, tied with Raphael Veiga (8 goals) and now has only six matches to improve his statistics and win his first trophy with the Alviverde club. “Endrick? We are watching what he does. He is doing very well. He is progressing very quickly,” Carlo Ancelotti said about him last Saturday. While he will only be able to join Real Madrid from July next year, at the age of 18, Endrick is already greatly anticipated in the Spanish capital.
