Endrick: Real Madrid's teenager sensation more Haaland than Vini Jr

Neel Shelat

• 3 Feb 2023 09:00 CST
• 7 min read

Endrick may only be 16, but he’s also the second-most expensive player sale from Brazil, having signed for Real Madrid in a deal worth €60 million plus taxes.

Days after his 16th birthday, he became Palmerias’ youngest-ever appearance-maker when he was sent on in a league fixture against Coritiba in early October. Later in the month, he went on to become their youngest-ever goalscorer with a brace against Athletico Paranaense.

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Even before he made his senior debut, Endrick was a much-hyped Brazilian talent thanks to his record of 165 goals scored in 169 matches for Palmeiras’ youth teams. Europe’s biggest clubs had long been showing interest, but Palmeiras remained adamant that they would not part with him for anything less than €60m.

Ultimately, Real Madrid agreed to pay that fee, but Endrick will not be joining the Spanish giants until the summer of 2024, when he turns 18 years old. That means he still has a year and a half to play in Brazil, but let us take a look at what Los Blancos might be expecting to see from their newest signing.

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Well-rounded striker

Endrick is not the archetypical Brazilian talent in the sense that he is not a winger or attacking midfielder who gets everyone out of their chairs with his dribbling. Instead, he is an out-and-out striker who comes alive in the box.

He made seven league appearances in 2022 and played just over 300 minutes, but that is not enough for a good sample size of data to have been generated. Still, there are a few observations we can make that align with his record in youth tournaments.

As we alluded to, Endrick is not a player who is overly involved in possession, so he averaged under 20 touches per 90 in the league last season. His heatmap shows how most of his activity was centred in and around the penalty area.

That means that when he does touch the ball, there’s a good chance he will be shooting. In fact, he attempted 4.12 shots per 90 in the league this season, meaning he fired a shot once in about five touches on average.

Endrick’s trigger-happy shooting tendency shows up quite clearly in his shotmap from this year, as he has been letting fly from all sorts of positions. That does indicate an ability to create openings in various situations, which is evident when watching footage of him too.

He made most of those especially outlandish attempts in youth tournaments, though, as he seemed much more mindful of getting into good positions before shooting in his matches with the senior team. The teenage striker’s shotmap from the league shows that.

Of course, in order to get into good shooting positions, one needs to be clever with their movement in the box. Endrick showed positive signs of that even as he made the step up to senior football. His goal against Athletico Paranaense was a great example of that, as he made a run between two defenders before heading the ball home.

Shooting and scoring certainly are Endrick’s clearest strengths, but he has shown promise in other situations too. As aforementioned, he is not the most proficient dribbler (and he attempted just 5 take-ons in the league), but that is not much of a surprise given his style of play as a striker.

The only sort of situation he regularly finds himself needing to beat an opponent with the ball at his feet is when he receives a pass with his back to goal, and he has the skills as well as ball control to wriggle away from opponents in tight areas.

The above clip also shows Endrick’s most common chance creation pattern – chipped/slipped through balls from the edge of the box. These are low-percentage passes so they do not come off very often, but when they do, they usually result in a big chance being created.

Another impressive aspect of Endrick’s game is his hard work out of possession. He is a very willing presser who never shies away from sprinting to close opponents down, as Pedro Henrique experienced.

Between his goalscoring, dribbling, chance creation and defensive work-rate, Endrick is showing all the signs of a complete striker in the making. His goals alone seem to be enough to make him a very highly rated talent, but it is the rest of his skillset that elevates him to this status of being a potential world-beater.

Future prediction

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that a teenager who Real Madrid are spending €72m on has incredible potential, but it is important to not get carried away and burden him with expectation. It will certainly be helpful for him to remain in a familiar environment in Brazil for the next year and a half, which should be enough time for him to settle in the world of senior football.

Endrick looks set to be fully integrated into the Palmeiras senior team in 2023, so expect to see and hear much more about him in the next year. He is sure to improve as a striker in line with his physical development, and from what we have seen so far, he has the right attitude to continue his technical and tactical development at a great trajectory.

It will be interesting to see if the Brazil youth international is integrated straight into the Real Madrid senior squad when he moves to Spain, or if he first is asked to spend a good deal of time with the B team or out on loan. Of course, that decision hinges on his performances in Brazil over the next 18 months, which should motivate him even further.

In the long term, Endrick has the potential to establish himself as the first-choice striker for the Brazil national team too, especially since they lack an elite pure No.9 at the moment. Again, it is important to not put him under too much pressure, but there certainly is a chance that he could be a part of the Brazil squad that plays in the 2026 World Cup.

There are no two ways about it: Real Madrid have a real gem on their hands in Endrick, but we all must be patient with him.