Chelsea tried to hijack Real Madrid's wonderkid deal - Fabrizio Romano

Cameron Smith

19 Nov 2023 10:51 CST
3 min read

Mauricio Pochettino, Chelsea — © ProShots

Chelsea attempted to hijack Real Madrid’s pursuit of Brazilian wonderkid Endrick but were unsuccessful, Fabrizio Romano has revealed.

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The 17-year-old forward will officially join Los Blancos next year after a deal worth €70 million was agreed with Palmeiras.

However, Real Madrid weren’t the only club interested in signing Endrick, with Chelsea hoping to land the teenager following their transfer recruitment strategy under Todd Boehly.

The Blues have signed some of the best young talent in world football over the past year, but were unable to add Endrick to their roster despite their best efforts in 2022.

What has been said?

In his latest YouTube video, Romano confirmed that Chelsea tried their best to convince Endrick to move to Stamford Bridge, but the Brazilian has his heart set on a move to the Santiago Bernabeu.

“One year ago, in November, Chelsea also tried to sign Endrick,” the transfer expert admitted.

“[He was a] player that they were monitoring with their staff and they tried to approach the player’s side to convince him [to join].

“Chelsea invited his family to London to have the opportunity to feel the Chelsea world, but in the end, the choice was very clear for Endrick. He had a dream to play for Real Madrid and Juni Calafat was the man behind the scenes who completed this signing.”

Furthermore, Paris Saint-Germain were also very keen on signing Endrick and his Palmeiras team-mate Estevao. Romano has revealed the Parisians saw a €93m combined bid for the pair rejected by the Brazilian side, with Palmeiras wanting to retain Estavio for a little while longer before selling him in the future.

However, Real Madrid won the race to sign one of the biggest talents in world football.

Endrick has 12 goals and one assists in 49 appearances for Palmeiras this year, while he made his senior Brazil debut against Colombia during the November international break.