forbes.com

Real Madrid Star Makes Decision On Potential Exit, Reports Marca

A Real Madrid first team star has made a decision on his immediate future after being linked to a potential exit from the club in January according to MARCA, which cited anonymous sources.

President Florentino Perez was believed to have pulled off a major coup when signing Endrick from Sao Paulo giants Palmeiras in late 2022.

Transfer market expert Fabrizio Romano reported the deal as being worth $63.3 million (€60 million), and it was officially completed this summer when the Brazilian came of adult age and crossed the Atlantic.

Endrick was unveiled at around the same time as Perez's 2024 Galactico Kylian Mbappe, and enjoyed a dream start to life in Europe by netting in his La Liga and Champions League debuts in turn breaking a number of records.

Both he and fellow teenage prodigy Arda Guler embarked on a rough patch this season, however, and a run of hardly picking up a quarter of an hour in game time on either side of the international breaks in October and November.

While Guler has enjoyed improved prominence in the last fortnight or so, and scored during a starting nod against Girona on Saturday, Endrick got a short cameo at the end of the 3-0 win and received a double blow to the head for his troubles.

SPORT, citing anonymous sources, previously reported that Endrick has "options to leave" Madrid, with "several clubs" having "knocked on the door" of the Bernabeu to "propose a loan in January".

This included Roma in the Italian Serie A, Southampton in the Premier League and Valladolid elsewhere in La Liga.

Yet MARCA reports on Sunday that Endrick has "closed the door" to a temporary departure.

Though he obviously wants to play more, he "does not despair" about his lack of inclusion and remains confident "that his moment will come".

When it does, he will know "how to take advantage of the opportunity that Carlo Ancelotti can give him", to show that he is worth "more than just playing single minutes in the last moments of the matches".

Endrick has overcome similar situations at Palmeiras and is confident of doing so again.

He is of course in direct competition with Mbappe for a central striker spot, but Vinicius Jr.'s absence through injury effectively means that Mbappe can be deployed on the left and leave their shared berth vacant.

Furthermore, the amount of competitions Madrid will contest this term - seven in total - and the frequency of injuries being experienced could also result in the teenager increasingly finding his way onto the pitch.

Read full news in source page