Real Madrid will bolster their array of young talents with what many believe to be the most talented forward of his generation in Endrick Felipe this summer, who will sign from Palmeiras next July for a €40m fee, with €20m in variables. Yet the 17-year-old was close to ending up in the Premier League, with a deal to Chelsea verbally agreed.
In the Spanish capital, Endrick’s capture has been added to the list of coups following Rodrygo Goes, Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham and Eduardo Camavinga, players who turned down larger offers to prioritise Real Madrid. However it turns out this was not the case with Endrick.
“I was very close. My parents really liked London and everyone speaks very highly of it,” Endrick told The Guardian.
His father Douglas Felipe had even travelled to London to see what his new life would be like.
“They explained everything to us. They introduced us to the person who would help us settle in. She showed us the house we would live in, the school Endrick would go to, the church we would attend. Everything was right with us and Chelsea.”
Douglas admitted that the deal was all but done with Endrick and Palmeiras until the Premier League side pulled out.
“I can’t say 100% because I hadn’t signed, but the deal was agreed. I had already got it into my head that I would live in London with all that cold weather. But then at night, my son’s manager phoned and said that the Chelsea owner had backed out of the deal because the price they would have to pay for Endrick would inflate the market. It was €60m [£51.4m] for a 16-year-old boy who would only arrive in the country almost two years later.”
This will matter little to Real Madrid fans once Endrick starts scoring goals at the Santiago Bernabeu. However it is a reminder that where Barcelona and Real Madrid formerly competed for the best talent coming out of South America, now the Premier League’s wealth is part of that competition too, and is perfectly capable of beating them to a talent these days.
