Endrick's Journey: From Real Madrid to Lyon and World Cup Dreams
Endrick’s European education has not been gentle. It has been raw, fast and occasionally overwhelming — exactly what happens when a teenager walks into a dressing room built on Champions League titles and Ballon d’Or winners.
“The first year is always tough,” he admitted on Men in Blazers, speaking with the kind of honesty that strips away the hype around his name. You can see why. You arrive at a club and the first names you see are Luka Modric, Vinicius, Rodrygo. Giants of the modern game. Heroes back home. And suddenly you’re expected not just to survive in their orbit, but to compete with them.
“You arrive at a club with players like Modric, Vinicius, Rodrygo… It’s very difficult to play with all of them, but you also learn a lot,” he said. That’s the trade-off. Fewer minutes, but a crash course in elite football. “I’ve been able to put everything I’ve learned into practice at Lyon, and when I return I’ll be able to demonstrate it there.”
The move away from the Santiago Bernabeu could have felt like a step down. For Endrick, it became a lifeline. The shirt changed, the badge changed, but the pressure to justify the hype did not. What did change was his role. At Lyon, he finally had what every young striker craves: time on the pitch and the freedom to make mistakes.
“It wasn’t difficult to go to Lyon,” he said. “In the end, God told me I had to go, and I went. I wasn’t afraid; it’s been one of the best decisions of my life. I needed to play. I’ve been able to score goals, provide assists, and play a lot of minutes.”
Those minutes have done more than sharpen his finishing. They’ve given him something Real Madrid couldn’t yet offer: the rhythm of being a key piece, not just a promise for tomorrow.
Yet the thread back to Madrid never snapped. If anything, it tightened. While he fought for form and confidence in France, the support came from Spain and England, through a phone that wouldn’t stop ringing.
“Bellingham calls me every day,” Endrick revealed. That’s not a throwaway line; it’s a glimpse into a modern superclub’s inner circle, where the biggest stars take it upon themselves to look after the next wave. “When I was feeling down, he’d pick me up and we’d talk. He helped me a lot. Trent too. They’re very approachable players.”
For a teenager navigating a new continent, those calls mattered as much as any training session. The bond goes beyond tactics or technique. It’s about belonging.
He laughs at one part of the experience, though. “I try to learn from them, including English, but it’s impossible to understand them.” The language barrier remains, but the football language is universal. So is the empathy.
The club game is only one side of his story. The other carries a weight that only a Brazilian striker can fully grasp: the yellow shirt, the anthem, the expectation of a country that measures its footballing soul in World Cups.
“Playing in a World Cup is the greatest thing. Being able to represent my country is a dream come true,” he said. For Brazil, the tournament is not just a stage; it is an obligation. “The World Cup is very important to people, and it's been a long time since we won it.”
In that context, his praise for Neymar lands with extra force. “Neymar has Brazilian DNA. He's one of the best in our history.” It’s not empty flattery. It’s a young forward recognising the lineage he is stepping into, from Romario and Ronaldo to Neymar — and, one day, perhaps, to himself.
At club level, another giant looms large in his development: Carlo Ancelotti. Endrick speaks of him with the respect of a pupil who knows his teacher holds the keys to his future in Madrid.
“I get along very well with Ancelotti. He's a great coach and understands you very well as a person. I know they have a lot of respect for me.”
Respect is one thing. Responsibility is another. Endrick has already chosen the harder path once, trading the glamour of the Bernabeu for the grind of Lyon to chase minutes and maturity. The question now is simple and ruthless, the kind that defines careers at the very top: when he walks back into that star-studded dressing room, will he still be the wide-eyed teenager — or the young man ready to claim his place among them?
