The leading contenders to sign Enrick on loan from Real Madrid are gathering momentum with their pursuit of the Brazilian striker, according to Fabrizio Romano – but Spanish media claims the choice isn’t Los Blancos’ preference and they will have to be mindful not to repeat the same mistake with the last player who made the same move.
Endrick hasn’t played all season for Real Madrid since the appointment of Xabi Alonso, after a debut season in which he scored seven goals from 37 games. Playing time is the most important thing for a young prospect, which means the 19-year-old’s current situation is far from ideal. A solution is being worked on for January.
Various clubs in the Premier League have shown some passing interest in Endrick. However, he also has suitors in Europe – and that’s where things have been developing this week.
French side Lyon have established themselves in pole position for Endrick’s signature. And trusted transfer reporter Romano has now revealed talks are advancing between Lyon and the player.
In an update on Saturday, Romano has explained that Endrick is ‘giving his total priority’ to Lyon, who he’s ‘very keen’ to join.
And despite the January transfer window not opening for another two months, Endrick will make his ‘final decision in [the] next week’.
The formula of the deal would be a straight loan, without an option to buy, which means his future will be at Real Madrid.
But in that case, Los Blancos will need to be mindful of what happened last time they took a player back from Lyon and hope there have been some lessons learned.
Back in 2017, Real Madrid agreed a deal to sell another striker, Mariano Diaz, to Lyon. The deal contained a buyback clause, which was activated after a season in which Diaz scored 21 goals for Les Gones.
But things never worked out for Diaz back in the Spanish capital, where he only scored 12 goals from 84 games over the next five seasons before being released at the end of his contract.
That isn’t a pathway Madrid will want Endrick to follow, especially after investing so heavily in him as a teenager.
Diaz wasn’t good enough to be a starter for Madrid in the end, so maybe they should have let him flourish elsewhere – or cashed in before it was too late.
Interestingly, Diario Sport has claimed that Madrid would ‘prefer’ to loan Endrick to a different team in Spain so he can acclimatise more to LaLiga.
Lyon coach responds to Endrick rumours
However, the benefit of choosing Lyon in this case would be his chances of regular gametime. This is a club who lost their three top scorers from last season over the summer, with Alexandre Lacazette, Georges Mikautadze and Rayan Cherki all making way.
Lyon need a striker for the second half of the season and that should give Endrick the platform he needs to get his confidence back.
The links with a move to Lyon have drawn a response from Paulo Fonseca, the French club’s head coach.
“I don’t talk about players who aren’t here,” he said, but while letting out a laugh.
“Is signing Endrick a dream? I want to have good players, that’s for sure, so all quality players are welcome.”
Real Madrid transfer news: Haaland timeline
One potential issue for Endrick’s chances of making it in Madrid would be Real’s long-term interest in Manchester City striker Erling Haaland.
On that front, TEAMtalk’s Dean Jones has provided some insight on when might be a realistic timeline for Haaland to be on the move.
In other news, Kylian Mbappe has been named as the ‘dream’ signing for a Premier League club – if they had an unlimited budget.