Endrick was the next Brazilian super talent to join Real Madrid in 2024. A year and a half later, the 19-year-old’s development at the Royal Club has stagnated, which is why he is now moving to Olympique Lyon on loan.
Endrick is still considered one of the most promising Brazilian talents. It’s no surprise that the now 19-year-old was drawn to what is possibly the biggest team in Europe. Real Madrid signed the striker in December 2022, who made his professional debut at just 16 years of age and won the Brazilian championship twice during his time at his youth club Palmeiras. He joined Los Blancos in the summer of 2024, with a transfer fee of around €70 million attached to his name. Now, just under a year and a half later, the Brazilian “wunderkind’s” current situation no longer looks quite so rosy. After making 31 appearances in La Liga and the Champions League (only four of them from the start) and scoring two goals in his first season for Real under coach Carlo Ancelotti, new coach Xabi Alonso currently has no use for the 14-time Brazilian international.
The still very young striker only spent a meager eleven minutes on the field in the league and even received a red card in the league match against Celta Vigo (0-2) without even playing. This is one of the reasons why Endrick was not called up to the Selecao by his former coach Ancelotti, which is likely to have dealt a severe blow to his hopes of participating in the World Cup next summer.
Transfer to Lyon was in the works
Due to the somewhat bleak prospects of more playing time and the extremely high level of competition from names such as Kylian Mbappé, Vinicius Junior and Co., Real Madrid decided together with the player to loan Endrick out. Rumors of a loan move to Olympique Lyon in France’s Ligue 1 had already been circulating in recent months, and these have now been confirmed.
As both sides announced on Tuesday afternoon, Endrick will move to the current fifth-placed team in Ligue 1 on loan until the end of the season. According to its own statements, Lyon is paying a loan fee of one million euros and hopes that the speedy striker will bring more offensive power to the team, as coach Rodrigues Fonseca’s team has the worst offense among the top nine in the league with only 22 goals. According to reports, OL does not have an option to buy the 19-year-old.
In Lyon, Endrick is now expected to regain his strength and continue his development, also in order to maintain his chances of participating in the World Cup. As the club is also represented internationally as the leader in the Europa League, he will also be able to prove himself on the European stage. Meanwhile, the winter break is extremely short for the Brazilian top talent.
Lyon will be away to AS Monaco in the league on January 3.