Real Madrid faced off against Manchester City on Tuesday in a battle between the last three UEFA Champions League winners. It was a breathless, end-to-end encounter that saw Real fall behind on two occasions, only to prevail with a 3-2 victory and take a slender advantage into the second leg of the knockout round playoffs.
By Zach Lowy
Whilst Brahim Díaz and Jude Bellingham scored late goals to complete an improbable comeback in Manchester, Endrick watched on from the bench. It was the third time in his last four matches that he remained an unused substitute, and it was yet another disappointing result for a teenager whose debut season at Real Madrid hasn’t quite lived up to expectations.
Born in Taguatinga, Brazil, Endrick is the son of Douglas de Sousa Silva Ramos, who left his family when Endrick was 11 to pursue a playing career. His mother was left unemployed and homeless, forcing Endrick and his siblings to reside in an orphanage until his father returned after six months of bouncing around various small clubs in Brasília. With his parents struggling to put food on the table, Endrick vowed to achieve footballing success that had eluded his father and lift his family out of poverty.
He did just that, scoring 165 goals in 169 matches for Palmeiras’ youth teams, and prompting Palmeiras to hire Douglas as a janitor. On October 6, 2022, Endrick became the youngest player to appear for Palmeiras’ first team at 16 years, 2 months, and 16 days old; 19 days later, he became the second-youngest goalscorer in the history of the Brazilian top-flight. He scored three goals in seven appearances as Palmeiras claimed their 11th Série A title, and on December 15, he reached an agreement to join Real Madrid for €35 million and €25m in add-ons upon turning 18 in July 2024.
Endrick validated the hype in 2023 by emerging as a vital cog in Abel Ferreira’s system, a self-sufficient forward who could operate on the flanks or as a centre forward or a second striker, drop deep to receive the ball, create space for himself with his acceleration and dribbling skills, and who was becoming a nightmare for most seasoned defenders in Brazil. Endrick led Palmeiras for both Expected Goals (8.1) and goals (11) in the Brasileirão, none more important than on 1 November, when he grabbed a brace and an assist to erase a 3-0 deficit and beat Botafogo 4-3. Palmeiras moved within three points of league leaders Botafogo, and one month later, Endrick scored a goal on the final day vs. Cruzeiro as they narrowly won the championship.
The hype continued to build as Endrick became the youngest player in 57 years to play for Brazil, before scoring in friendlies against England and Spain in March. After playing in each of Brazil’s four matches in the Copa América, Endrick headed across the Atlantic and fulfilled his boyhood dream of playing for Real Madrid, where he grabbed his debut goal within 10 minutes of coming on vs. Real Valladolid. He needed just 16 minutes to open his UEFA Champions League account on September 17 with a long-distance firecracker against Stuttgart, becoming the youngest Brazilian to score in Europe’s premier competition. But when he was given his first start for Real Madrid on October 2, he failed to take advantage of the opportunity and was hauled off after 57 minutes in a 1-0 defeat to Lille. Since then, Endrick has registered just two starts and three goals – all coming in the Copa del Rey.
He’s played just 31 minutes in LaLiga since the start of December, but that hasn’t stopped him from making an impact off the bench; Endrick leads all LaLiga players for Goals per 90 (1.00) and Shots on Target per 90 (4.0), whilst he’s currently averaging 11.0 Shots per 90, more than twice as many as anyone else in Spain’s top-flight. However, it does seem that at times he’s been overly eager to impress in his limited game-time, whether that’s racing to win the ball and committing an ill-advised tackle (three bookings already) or undertaking an audacious solo dribble rather than dishing it off to a teammate. We saw this in the 88th minute of September’s Madrileño derby when, instead of passing it to the overlapping Bellingham, he wasted a 3v1 opportunity by firing an injudicious shot from 30 yards out, which trickled out for a goal kick. Seven minutes later, Ángel Correa equalised for Atlético Madrid.
However, perhaps Endrick’s biggest issue is none other than the fact that he’s competing against one of the best footballers on the planet: Kylian Mbappé.
After years of unsuccessfully pursuing the French striker, Real Madrid finally signed Mbappé to a five-year deal that, between his salary and his signing bonus, will see him accrue $36 million per season. Following a slow start to life in Spain, Mbappé is delivering the scintillating form that we’ve grown accustomed to with 23 goals in 35 appearances. He is in the prime of his career at 26 – he doesn’t have time to be gradually eased in like his 18-year-old Brazilian teammate. He’s going to start just about every match and play every minute under Carlo Ancelotti, and there’s nothing that Endrick can do about it.
For all of Ancelotti’s strengths, rotation isn’t one of them: The Italian has been reticent to deviate from his first-choice line-up or make changes to his team during matches. By the time that Ancelotti made his first substitution in the weekend’s draw to Atleti, Diego Simeone had already made four changes. By the time he made his first substitution vs. City, Pep Guardiola had already made three.
“The main reason why Endrick isn’t getting more minutes is that his position is already well-covered,” stated Canal Sur Almería director Salva R. Moya. “In contrast to Raúl Asencio, who has become a starter due to the other centre backs getting injured, Endrick has a lot of competition to deal with. He’s competing with Mbappé for a starting spot, but he’s also competing with the likes of Brahim Díaz and Luka Modrić for the opportunity to come off the bench. It’s complicated for him, but it’s also to be expected as a young kid from Brazil who is coming to fulfill a role like his predecessor Joselu, who began as a benchwarmer and gradually started to impact games more. This has been a transitional season for Endrick, but I have no doubt that he will have more protagonism next season, whether or not Ancelotti stays.”
These past few months have pumped the brakes on Endrick’s meteoric rise for club and country and forced him to play the waiting game. So far, he has shown no inclination to depart on loan and push for more minutes, instead preferring to buckle down and patiently bide his time in the Spanish capital. However, with Mbappé locking down a starting spot in attack, Endrick could very well be forced to depart Madrid in order to secure regular minutes ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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