The story of Endrick: Real Madrid's bright new young talent, and Brazil's new hope

On July 7, 2024, Brazil played Uruguay in the Copa América quarterfinals. Brazil’s 17-year-old centre-forward Endrick was playing in the biggest game of his career to date, two weeks before he would officially sign for Real Madrid.

Endrick was wearing the Brazil No. 9 shirt once worn by Ronaldo Nazário, Tostão and Adriano. With a place in the Copa América semifinals at stake, it was the perfect opportunity to confirm his status as one of football’s brightest new stars.

Only, it didn’t go according to plan. The game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas ended 0-0, Uruguay won on penalties and Endrick’s performance was widely mocked on social media; he completed just one pass in 90 minutes, and that was taking the kickoff.

In fact, Endrick was quiet in all four Copa América appearances, albeit as part of a broadly underwhelming and dysfunctional Brazil side. (In other words, it wasn’t his fault.) In 19 minutes against Costa Rica, 11 minutes against Paraguay, four minutes against Colombia and 90 minutes against Uruguay, he scored no goals, provided no assists, created no chances, had just 35 touches and took two shots for a combined xG (expected goals) of 0.09.

However, this is a player who was signed by Real Madrid in December 2022 aged just 16, in a deal that his club Palmeiras called the “biggest in the history of Brazilian football.” Madrid are experts in spotting Brazil’s best talents, thanks to chief scout Juni Calafat — who identified both forwards Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo — and signed them as teenagers.

Madrid aren’t often wrong, and they’ve always believed Endrick is special. ESPN spoke to multiple sources — who have seen firsthand the teenager’s development into one of world football’s most hyped young players — to find out why.

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Nov. 14, 2021. Endrick was 15 years old at the time but already playing for Palmeiras under-20s. His precocious talent had seen his fame reach a national level in football-mad Brazil, and fans were eagerly awaiting his professional debut.

Palmeiras had qualified for the final of Brazil’s under-15s tournament, but the team wasn’t counting on being able to include Endrick for the match against archrivals Corinthians, also from the city of São Paulo. That was until the young forward approached Palmeiras youth coordinator João Paulo Sampaio. “I want to play,” he said.

It didn’t make much sense. Endrick was already playing at a much higher level, but he was also just a teenager, and like any 15-year-old, he wanted to be with his friends. In essence, the request was actually a farewell. Endrick wanted to play for the last time with kids who had been his teammates since the under-11s because he knew that from then on, his life would be very different.

So Endrick took to the field for Palmeiras’ under-15s one last time. In the city of Porto Feliz, in the state of São Paulo, he scored a goal and provided two assists, also allowing another player — Luis Guilherme, now of West Ham United — to take the penalty that opened the scoring in a 5-0 win.

The anecdote, told by sources to ESPN, is just one example from the life of a player who, from the age of 10, has had to take on an adult’s responsibilities. Endrick was destined for big things, and he knew it.

Endrick was born in Taguatinga, in Brazil’s Federal District, just outside the capital city of Brasilia, in the country’s highlands. By the age of 8, he was already being monitored by top clubs, including São Paulo, one of Brazilian football’s “big twelve” teams. At 10, he played for them in a national tournament. Video clips of his skills went viral.

Endrick’s father, Douglas, had also played football, at a lower level. He used to travel with his son to Cotia, where São Paulo’s academy is based.

At the time, the family was living in Valparaíso de Goiás, 600 miles away, so Douglas asked the club for a monthly allowance, and a job, so that they could move to São Paulo. Their offer was limited to 150 Brazilian reais — around $27 — a month.

That’s where Palmeiras came in. The club, also based in São Paulo, is one of Brazil’s biggest. They’ve won 26 Campeonato Paulista state leagues, a record 12 national Brazilian Serie A league titles, and three CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores.

They offered Douglas around 3000 Brazilian reais a month to help the family settle in São Paulo and promised Douglas a job. When Endrick turned 11, he would be legally allowed to register with Palmeiras and participate in youth competitions.

Endrick’s mother, Cintia, moved straightaway, with him and his brother. Their father had to wait longer, serving his notice in his job as a cleaner at Brasilia’s Mané Garrincha stadium.

Once the family was reunited, Endrick’s parents sold food outside São Paulo’s Barra Funda Metro Station to make ends meet. When Douglas began working for Palmeiras, in the cleaning department, the situation improved. Douglas also got to know some of Palmeiras’ first-team players, eating with them in the club canteen. But he had few teeth, couldn’t eat solid food and, embarrassed by the situation, he would only order soup.

This was spotted by Palmeiras goalkeeper Jailson. The pair had become close. Jailson got together with teammates Antônio Carlos, Victor Luis and Deyverson, and arranged for Douglas to have dental treatment.

The story was the inspiration for Endrick’s first sponsorship deal, set up by Wolff Sports — the agency entrusted with managing his commercial agreements by his agent, Frederico Pena — when he was just 15.

After hearing what had happened with Douglas, director Fabio Wolff approached Brazilian dental company Odonto. Endrick became the face of the company’s campaigns, smiling. Now his father could smile, too.

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Endrick is a central striker, but he can’t be described as a classic centre-forward. He’s constantly on the move, and at Palmeiras, he has also played on the wing. Being left-footed, he can play wide on the right, looking to cut inside, although in Brazil he found the defensive aspects of the role, needing to track back, more difficult.

Speaking to ESPN, teammates and opponents emphasize Endrick’s quality, combined with his physical strength and his mentality. His trademarks are his movement to find space, and his finishing. Some have compared the new Real Madrid forward to Adriano, the left-footed forward who became one of the world’s best at Inter Milan in the 2000s.

Endrick is fearless. At Palmeiras, he wouldn’t hesitate to speak to teammates, coaching staff and managers, despite his age. Before decisive matches, he would tell them that victory was assured. His confidence and maturity were impressive. At times, youth coordinator João Paulo Sampaio thought Endrick’s attitude might have been excessive, but his actions tended to back up his words.

One game at youth level highlighted Endrick’s competitive instincts. Aged 14, he played for the U17 side in a 7-3 defeat to Flamengo, a game still remembered by staff at Palmeiras to this day for the talent on display for both teams. After the match, the staff weren’t unhappy with the players, despite the defeat. The game had been of a high technical level, and the team had played well. But Endrick was indignant. He had lost. His stance left an impression.

On another occasion, Endrick prevented a nervous teammate from being dropped from the starting lineup before a game, talking to the coach and telling him that he would calm the player down.

Sources point to this attitude — with a good head on his shoulders, from the very beginning — as being the single determining factor in making Endrick the player he is today.

“He only thinks about football, nothing else. His maturity is impressive,” a former teammate told ESPN.

Endrick’s professional debut came on Oct. 6, 2022. Palmeiras were playing Coritiba in the league, and coach Abel Ferreira was suspended, watching the game from the stands at Allianz Parque in São Paulo, and communicating with assistant and João Martins on the touchline. Twenty-two minutes into the second half, with Palmeiras 3-0 up, the order came to send the boy out onto the pitch. The fans were euphoric, and within minutes, Endrick went close to scoring. In stoppage time, he had another chance.

Endrick’s first goal came 19 days later, in a 3-1 win away at Athletico Paranaense. At 16 years, 3 months and 4 days old, Endrick became the youngest goal scorer in Palmeiras’ history, breaking a record that had stood for 106 years.

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Off the field, Endrick is well looked after. The idea of the player and his representatives is to look for long-term business partners for sponsorship deals, rather than short-term deals, with some kind of personal connection.

At an early meeting, when Endrick was 15, sources told ESPN that one detail stood out. A business proposal was being presented to the player, his parents and the agent. For almost an hour, Endrick paid attention to everything that was being discussed. He didn’t once touch his mobile phone.

Three elite athletes were identified as being role models and benchmarks for how he wanted his career to develop: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Cristiano Ronaldo.

All commercial requests from partners are posted to a WhatsApp group, which includes all of Endrick’s staff so that he and his team are fully aware. As well as Odonto, Endrick has deals with Brazil’s largest pharmaceutical company, Hypera, and the São Paulo-based cosmetics company Natura, as well as sports firm New Balance.

He was also the poster boy for the launch of Disney+ in Brazil and has become an informal ambassador for GRAAC, a children’s cancer charity. His staff expect new deals to be signed in the coming months, given the greater exposure he will get wearing the Real Madrid shirt.

There have been occasional controversies, such as in an interview with Brazilian football magazine Placar this year, talking about the work of psychologists.

“My psychologist is primarily God,” Endrick said. “I don’t need to open my heart to anyone else. I have God in my life, and I don’t need to vent to someone else who doesn’t even know my parents, who doesn’t even know me. So I just have to talk to God, I have to pray. And for me, my therapists are really my family … I don’t think I need to find someone who doesn’t even know my family properly.”

The remarks caused heated debate on social media. They came around the same time that Tottenham Hotspur and Brazil forward Richarlison had spoken bravely about how therapy had helped him.

Details of Endrick’s relationship with 21-year-old model and influencer Gabriely Miranda have also made headlines. The pair have spoken publicly about a “relationship contract” that they’ve both signed, which states that they are in a “voluntary relationship” based on “respect, understanding and affection.” It stipulates how often the couple must say “I love you” and prohibits various forms of behavior. The revelation led to widespread coverage in Brazilian and international media, including articles examining the legal validity of such a contract.

People close to Endrick told ESPN that the forward keeps a low profile online and on social media. They describe him as being receptive to advice and guidance. When staff advised Endrick to delete an Instagram video he had posted, he listened, accepted the criticism and removed the content.

In January 2022, Endrick had around 100,000 followers across all social media platforms. Today, he has over 15 million. His exploits on the pitch, and his profile off it, have already caught the eye of some of football’s biggest names. Ronaldo Nazário, one of the greatest No. 9s ever to play for Real Madrid and Brazil, has been won over.

“He’s a player with a lot of quality,” he said. “He has a nose for goal, he protects the ball well, [he’s good in] one-on-ones, he dribbles. … I think he has all the great characteristics of a centre-forward, with the quality of a No. 10.”

Endrick’s name even came up in the unlikely setting of an NBA Finals news conference this year, when ESPN Brazil asked Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla about Celtics star Jayson Tatum, and the pressure he faces.

“The lens with which Brazilian soccer players are looked at is very similar to how American athletes are looked at,” Mazzulla said. “You look at where Neymar has been over his time, taking on the No. 10 [shirt for Brazil]. … Who do you think has dealt with the most? How do you think they’ve handled it? Now you see Endrick coming up, he’s going to face that soon.”

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Endrick has a long relationship with and affection for the United States, going back to his childhood. It was a subject brought up by Palmeiras coach Abel Ferreira ahead of the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup when coming under pressure from fans to call up Endrick — then 15 and yet to make his professional debut — for the tournament. In a news conference, Ferreira called for patience.

“We’re going to the [Club] World Cup,” he said. “If the club wants to buy [Endrick] and his family a ticket to Disneyland, that’s what he needs.”

Not long afterward, when Endrick travelled to Europe to visit Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain — considering his next steps — he did, indeed, visit Disneyland Paris. He finally made it to Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, this summer ahead of the Copa América. Madrid’s biggest competitors for Endrick’s signature in 2022 were PSG, with Chelsea and Barcelona also interested. Barca’s then-coach, Xavi, said he had spoken to Endrick personally. But Endrick wanted Madrid. The influence of Vinicius and Rodrygo — he had been in touch with both — was also decisive, sources told ESPN.

As with Vinícius and Rodrygo, the role of Madrid’s chief scout Juni Calafat cannot be overstated. He travelled personally to meet Endrick and his family to seal the deal, which Madrid announced on Dec. 15, 2022. The player would formally sign for Madrid a year and a half later when he turned 18.

Palmeiras would not disclose the terms of the deal, simply saying it was “compatible with Endrick’s enormous talent and corresponds to the sporting and financial goals that we have established since the beginning of the negotiations.” Sources told ESPN it was worth a total of €72 million, including variables and taxes.

On Endrick’s side, negotiations were led by agent Fred Pena. In July last year, when his TFM agency was acquired by Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, Pena became CEO of the newly founded Roc Nation Sports Brazil. Beneath him in Endrick’s day-to-day management is Thiago Freitas, the company’s chief operating officer.

Vinicius and Endrick are represented by the same agency, but have entirely separate teams looking after them, within the Roc Nation Sports Brazil umbrella.

On Sunday, July 21, after a summer of disappointment in the Copa América, Endrick turned 18. He will be presented as a Real Madrid player later this week, before joining the squad for preseason training. “When he comes, he’ll be with the first team, there are no doubts about that,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said in February.

Endrick will be competing for a place in Madrid’s attack alongside Vinicius, Rodrygo and another new arrival, Kylian Mbappé. The most likely scenario is that he starts at the back of the queue, and has to wait for his opportunity.

The big difference between Vinicius, Rodrygo and Endrick — who all arrived at 18 — is that the first two landed in Madrid as prospects. Endrick is already a full Brazil international. He made his senior national team debut in November 2023, the youngest player to play for Brazil since Ronaldo Nazário, almost 30 years earlier.

When he scored the winning goal in a 1-0 victory over England at Wembley on March 23, 2024, he became the fourth-youngest scorer in Brazil’s history, behind Pelé, Edu and Ronaldo. Endrick, again showing impressive maturity and diplomacy, even name-checked Sir Bobby Charlton in postmatch interviews.

Those close to Endrick and his family say they do not doubt that he is as prepared as possible to succeed at Real Madrid, and laser-focused on achieving his goals. It’s as if he always knew that, sooner or later, he would be a Madridista.