"He is extraordinary"
Sometimes it’s hard to believe what he is achieving and showing so early
I believe Endrick will have success very quickly at Real Madrid
Endrick has been earmarked for greatness since he was a boy and Europe’s first glimpse of Brazil's latest prodigy saw him deliver on the hype with goals against England and Spain.
Real Madrid’s decision to pay Palmeiras nearly £60m for him at just 16 in 2022 gave us an idea of his potential. The March internationals showed us.
Endrick was no longer just a name, he was a reality. He wears the weight of expectation comfortably and the early signs indicate that this is someone born for the big stage.
The transfer to Real Madrid will be official in July, when he turns 18. Those that know Endrick have little concern about how he will cope.
Football was in Endrick's blood; his father and grandfather shared his dream, but were unable to make it a reality.
Douglas had even slept under Palmeiras’ ticket booth when hitch-hiking across Brazil for a week in the hope of finding a club.
Those struggles didn’t dampen his desire to help his son.
"He would send around YouTube clips of Endrick to clubs, looking for someone to pick him up and Palmeiras bit," South American football expert Tim Vickery tells Sky Sports.
They had very little, but Endrick looks back fondly on his childhood. "In our family, we weren’t born into wealth," Endrick wrote in The Players’ Tribune. "We were born into football."
Endrick's family relocated to Sao Paolo after he joined Palmeiras. His father took up a job as a caretaker, placing him in the dressing room he had fantasised about.
He was sure to tell the squad they would soon be playing with his son.
"Douglas did everything he could so that Endrick could fulfil his dream," says Paulo Victor Gomes, a youth coach of Endrick’s at Palmeiras. "It’s a victory not only for the boy but the entire family. For their sacrifice and all that they did."
Endrick delivered on the promise he had made to his father by signing his first professional contract aged 15. Douglas kept his word, too: Endrick had arrived.
Gomes first encountered Endrick as a 10-year-old when he was coaching Palmeiras’ U15s. They would not work together until later, but Endrick made an immediate impression. "I observed a very different player since his first steps inside the club," he says.
"It wasn’t only in the physical aspect, like everyone always talks about, but in the technical aspects, his decision-making, how much he involved himself in the games and how much this boy was concentrating during training."
Endrick established himself as a player for the big moments early in his development. Gomes recalls the final of the U11s Sao Paolo State Championship in 2017 as the occasion Endrick announced himself at Palmeiras.
"He always demonstrated himself to be an exceptional boy," says Gomes. "But for me this was the moment." It was the first time Endrick had played at Allianz Parque, Palmeiras’ stadium. "What he did in that game was something really outstanding."
Endrick won the game against Santos with the only goal, a tap-in on the rebound. Time has taught us this was no accident. Endrick tends to be in the right place at the right time.
"The main difference between Endrick and other players is his connection with the goal," says Gomes. "He's very dangerous in the area. That's his distinctive characteristic."
Endrick's goal was not the only thing that stood out. "He took control of the game in a way that was so natural, leading in a moment of huge pressure for boys of 10 and 11 years of age. It wasn’t just me, everyone present realised we had a gem."
Word of Endrick’s talent would soon spread beyond Palmeiras.
