Liverpool were expected to completely overhaul their first-team squad in the summer.
Last season, they finished fifth in the Premier League and, while they still managed to qualify for the Champions League, their performance levels were shocking.
The Anfield outfit spent over £450 million on new players with Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz their statement signings.
During the 2025-26 summer transfer window, fans thought that Liverpool were going to become one of the best teams in the world thanks to the signings they made but, that couldn't have been further from the truth.
Instead, they were forced to spend over £150 million again this summer with fans demanding that even more players in even more positions were signed.
Many different transfer links emerged and now, the future of one of their long-term targets has been revealed.
Jose Mourinho confirms Endrick will be staying at Real Madrid
When Mohamed Salah exited Liverpool in the summer, most fans thought that he'd be one of the first players that Liverpool would replace.
Instead, they chose to add another two left-wingers to their ranks despite already having two players to cover those positions.
This left the Reds a bit weak on the right-wing which led to them almost signing Yankuba Minteh or Ismaila Sarr for an obscene amount of money.
Fortunately, Liverpool never went through with this but, throughout the summer, other players such as Endrick were linked with a move and, even now, there are still some rumours emerging about the Brazilian potentially joining Liverpool.
However, thanks to some quotes relayed by Fabrizio Romano, it seems like Jose Mourinho is keeping the 20-year-old at the Bernabeu, no matter what.
"Endrick does NOT need to be loaned out, he will do great things and succeed here," Mourinho said.
"He’s returned from the injury, he was about to come on against Villarreal, he will play soon."
Liverpool are going to have to turn their attention away from Endrick in January
Of all the right wingers that Liverpool have been linked with over the last few months, Endrick was easily the most exciting.
Although his main position is as a striker, last term, he was used as a right-winger by Lyon on multiple occasions.
And, even though he probably wasn't as comfortable as he would be at striker, he still managed to steal the show and contribute to 16 goals in 21 games.
This return was very impressive and caught the eyes of many clubs from across the globe with most people thinking that Real Madrid would end up giving him a regular starting role.
Obviously, that hasn't been the case and, even though he'd probably be much better off being loaned out to another club or even sold, Mourinho clearly has plans for him to be a part of his first-team squad at some point this season.
This means that, even though he'd probably be a perfect acquisition for Liverpool, they're going to have to enter the market once again and try to find someone as good, or even better than the 20-year-old which, at the moment, feels rather impossible.