Real Madrid-bound star Endrick is just 17 but already has his own entourage including a chef, physios and marketing gurus
- Endrick had performed seven occasions for Palmeiras when Real agreed a £52m deal
- He is poised to make his debut within the well-known yellow jersey on Thursday night time
- It’s baffling why Guardiola bought Palmer to a rival membership – It’s All Kicking Off
Every as soon as in a whereas, a genius emerges from Brazil. Pele within the late Fifties, Zico 15 years later. Ronaldo within the mid-Nineties and Ronaldinho following rapidly behind him. Now, a new magician is prepared for international stardom.
Endrick had performed just seven occasions for Palmeiras final December when Real Madrid agreed a £52.5million deal for him to affix them when he turns 18 in July subsequent 12 months.
His star rose when he scored 165 targets in 169 video games for Palmeiras’s youth groups, and he snubbed Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain to affix his nationwide team-mates Vinicius Jnr and Rodrygo in Madrid. on Thursday night time, aged 17 years and 118 days, he is anticipated to make his Brazil debut in a World Cup qualifier in Colombia. Only Pele and two stars of the Sixties, Edu and Coutinho, had been youthful.
‘It has always been an ultimate dream to wear the Brazil jersey,’ Endrick tells Mail Sport. ‘Things have happened very quickly in my life, and this is another dream come true. I can only thank my family, agents, and Palmeiras, who have always believed in me.’
The Brazil field is about to be ticked and he’ll obtain his different huge goal too regardless of his tender years. ‘My dream, since I was little, has always been to play for Real Madrid,’ he provides. ‘Cristiano Ronaldo is one of my biggest idols. So it is a great pride to know that I will wear the same shirt he wore.’
Endrick is already signed to Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports company, and will go away his Nike deal to turn into the face of New Balance earlier than he strikes to Madrid.
His entourage already numbers greater than a dozen, from cooks to physiotherapists, tactical analysts and marketing professionals, all precision engineering this treasured expertise.
‘Endrick is not just an athlete who executes a move perfectly, but an athlete who executes unexpected moves at different moments of the game,’ says his Roc Nation supervisor Thiago Freitas. ‘It is difficult to prepare to face him because it is difficult to know what you will face. In several of his goals, he starts explosively, taking on defenders at high speed, and just when you think he will finish with the same force, he finishes as if he were playing with his younger brother, waiting for the opposing goalkeeper to fall. He has two hearts, each beating at a completely different rhythm.’
In his own phrases, Endrick is a little extra refined. Mail Sport asks him to stroll by the sport that sealed his call-up to the nationwide staff — a 4-3 win for Palmeiras over closest title rivals Botafogo a fortnight in the past.
Trailing 3-0 away from residence at half-time, Endrick took over within the second half, scoring twice and organising the equaliser earlier than Palmeiras gained the sport within the 99th minute. He demonstrated the entire qualities that set Real’s eyes on him: dribbling, explosive tempo and a rocket shot with both his stronger left foot or his proper.
‘There are only fractions of seconds to define the play,’ says Endrick. ‘I did what was necessary at the time. It’s one thing I’ve been doing since my journey by the youth groups, which is to be pleased and play soccer.
‘It’s about having fun with going ahead, dribbling, taking pictures at aim, and doing no matter it takes for the staff to win.’
It has not all been plain crusing. Endrick’s 2023 started slowly, when he misplaced his beginning place in mid-season. Now, he is entrance and centre once more as Palmeiras’s high scorer within the league with 9 as they give the impression of being to retain the title.
‘At no point did I hang my head because I wasn’t enjoying,’ he says. ‘It was a period of professional growth. (Palmeiras boss) Abel Ferreira always talked to me, so I was more at ease, respected his decision, and kept working. Now the opportunity has come to show what I can do on the pitch, and I am very grateful for everything that is happening. It’s a second to get pleasure from and be pleased.’
His success is not all the way down to likelihood. He has expertise, after all, but a fierce willpower too.
‘The first two times I met Endrick were just before his 14th birthday,’ says Freitas. ‘What impressed me essentially the most was that he was absolutely conscious of his potential — and the distinction between potential and achievement.
‘Young footballers, particularly in Brazil, are bombarded with consideration and most of them imagine that their potential is a divine assure, that they may naturally excel just by ready for time to go. Endrick was totally different. His expertise was amplified by himself, not by us.
‘Success solely comes when the athlete is prepared to sacrifice. Sacrificing leisure time, sacrificing meals and sacrificing consolation — to continually demand extra from his physique and get used to the ache that this demand brings.’
So far that sacrifice appears to be paying off.
