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By David Taylor
If you haven’t noticed Endrick’s two goals for Palmeiras in a stunning 4-3 win over rival Botafogo, do yourself a favor and watch them now. The first is the archetype of the “I’ll do it myself” goal genre in Los Angeles: Messi. The moment is unique: the ball from the most sensitive part of his shin (or the back of his knee, or a newly discovered spot somewhere in between), bounces away from the defender before firing straight into the back corner to make it 3-2. In Dennis Bergkamp’s true culture, it’s hard to perceive exactly how he did this.
The 17-year-old Brazilian foreigner is pleased that others talk about their talents; the fact that they have won two Brazilian league titles in less than a season and a half; that he finished his second season with the most goals by a U18 player in league history; and that his £52 million move to Real Madrid reflects his intimidating football cap. “I don’t pay a lot of attention to what people say about me,” Endrick told GQ on his first stop at New Balance’s headquarters in Boston after becoming the newest athlete to sign. “I look to concentrate on myself: am I satisfied?It’s playing football. That is what I intend to do.
As it turns out, it speaks to a teenager’s career in overtime, but Endrick enjoyed his football at the Palmeiras academy, where he joined the team at age 11 and scored 165 goals in 169 games. In his senior professional debut in October 2022, he became the club’s youngest senior player and, less than a month later, became the second-youngest goalscorer in the league.
“I’m very grateful to Palmeiras,” says Endrick. Everything went well and I realized I had a future when I signed my first contract at the age of 15. Things went very well and I made the transition to professional life as a footballer at the age of 16. After that, things will be replaced quickly. “
“Fast” is an understatement. A few months after his departure from the first team, Real Madrid came knocking on his door, investing a huge sum to ensure that one of football’s newest talents arrived in Madrid. Luckily for them, the deal was almost done: Endrick was down. He fell in love with Real when he was younger. “There were also other groups that were looking for me, but Real Madrid was interested from the beginning,” he explains. “When I was a child, it was a club that I admired. That was the plan: To be part of this club when I grow up. . . it gave me a lot of satisfaction to know that Madrid was looking for me among them.
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He’s the latest in a long line of Brazilian stars that have rocked up at the Bernabéu, from World Cup winners Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos to current first-teamers Vinícius Júnior, Rodrygo and Éder Militão. He’s already played alongside Vini and Rodrygo, and is remarkably unflappable when asked about the shoes he’s expected to eventually fill. After reeling off some of Real’s greatest, (“we have to mention Puskás, Zinedine Zidane, Roberto Carlos, Beckham as well”), the number 9 says of his future teammates, players like Bellingham, Tchouaméni and Kroos: “I hope they’re very good company in the future – being able to play with such phenomenal players will be incredible.” If he’s nervous, then he’s as good an actor as he is a footballer.
Endrick has the newest athlete to sign up for New Balance’s developing roster
He’s not immune to nerves, admitting that the biggest strain he’s felt so far in his short career was without delay after signing on the dotted line for Real (you can imagine). But for him, there are more vital things. Family, for example: With him in Boston are his parents, the top of a family of humble origins that went from downloading YouTube clips of a young Endrick to watching him win the league. “People talk about [his career and potential], yet that doesn’t influence me,” Endrick says. “I’m a family man. Seeing my parents satisfied makes me feel satisfied too. This is true happiness.
There will be many columns loyal to the last mononymous Brazilian prodigy for the next two decades. If all goes well, we’ll see him again in a freshly pressed suit for the Ballon d’Or with alarming regularity. He still has work to do at Palmeiras (adding a Super Cup final in February) before moving to Madrid this summer. Fortunately, he’s not someone who looks too far into the future. “I don’t know if I’ll be alive tomorrow, so my goal is to live one day at a time,” he says. “What’s going to happen in the future? God will decide.
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