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"Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, all the big names"...who is Brazil's 'biggest' prospect?
The agent of Brazil's top prospect has opened up about the transfer of Endrick.
"His agent has revealed the teams that tried to sign him before he signed with Real Madrid," Sports Bible reported on Feb. 22 (KST).
Endrick is a promising prospect for Brazil, with a unique left-footed shot and great speed. He made his debut in the 2021/22 season for Brazilian side Paumeiras and has steadily improved since then. In his first season, he showed promise with three goals and one assist in seven games.
Last season, his growth was even more pronounced. He scored 14 goals and provided one assist in 53 games. He was called up to the Brazilian national team for the first time last November in an A match. With Neymar's injury and the lack of other attacking options, his opportunity came. He was the youngest player to be called up since Ronaldo in 1993.
Endrick already has a destination in mind. Last winter, Real Madrid paid a whopping €72 million ($100.46 billion) for him when he was just 16 years old. It was the highest transfer fee ever for an under-18 player.
FIFA regulations prohibit players under the age of 18 from transferring abroad. Therefore, he will join Real Madrid in July 2024, when he turns 18.
According to the media, it was at the 2022 Montaigu tournament that Endrick first came to global attention. He scored five goals in four games to lead Brazil to the title and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
"That's when the world started to take notice of him," says his agent, Frederico Pena. "People in the soccer world already knew about him, but all the big teams wanted to sign him, including Manchester City, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), Chelsea, and Real Madrid."
Chelsea was originally the closest to signing him. Chelsea invited Endrick's parents to the Cobham training ground. They arranged meetings with Thiago Silva, Jorginho, Cesar Aspilicueta, and others. They even found a local church for the family to attend.
However, Chelsea were reluctant to spend a huge transfer fee on him. This is where Real Madrid came in. Real Madrid had previously made a similar deal with Pena to acquire Vinicius Junior.
"I think Real Madrid decided that after Neymar's move to Barcelona, they couldn't afford to miss out on talents like Vinicius and Endrique," Pena said, "and maybe Chelsea learned their lesson because they ran away with the player early on."