A great honor: Endrick, who only joined Real Madrid in 2024, will now wear the number 9 shirt for Los Blancos. In the past, this number has been worn by some of the club’s greatest legends.
Endrick Felipe Moreira de Sousa knows the number 9 very well, having already worn the jersey with this number for his youth club Palmeiras.
However, it will probably feel a little different for the 19-year-old talent to be wearing this number for Real Madrid from now on. Especially since Endrick, who was officially signed in December 2022, will not actually play for the Royals until 2024. And in that time, he will have only scored one goal in 22 La Liga appearances and nine Champions League appearances.
The biggest burden of it all is undoubtedly the number 9 shirt, which was last worn by Kylian Mbappé until he switched to number 10, and which has been worn by some of Real Madrid’s all-time greats in the past.
Benzema, “CR9” and also di Stefano
Need some examples? Goal-scoring machine Karim Benzema wore the number 9 jersey between 2010/11 and 2022/23, having taken over the number from Cristiano Ronaldo. Before his glory years, CR7 had actually worn the number 9 in the 2009/10 season.
And also great players such as Il Fenomeno Ronaldo (2003/04 to 2006/07) or Fernando Morientes (1999/2000 to 2003/04) and, of course, icon Alfredo di Stefano. He wore the number 9 between 1955/56 and 1961/62 and again in 1963/64, winning eight championships and five European Cup titles, the predecessor of today’s Champions League.
According to media reports, shooting star Gonzalo Garcia – who scored four goals in six games at this year’s Club World Cup – had recently been touted as the new number 9 in Carlo Ancelotti’s successor Xabi Alonso’s team.
However, the Madrid club initially extended the 21-year-old’s contract on Friday until June 30, 2030, with a reported release clause of one billion euros, and in the same breath handed the number 9 to teammate Endrick. Garcia, in turn, received the number 16 from Endrick, who had previously worn it.
