Endrick’s Future at Real Madrid: Star Player or Benchwarmer?
Endrick arrived at Real Madrid as one of the brightest young forwards of his generation. Less than a year on, he could already be heading for the exit door – at least temporarily.
According to Spanish outlet Marca, the 20-year-old is being monitored closely by AC Milan and Roma ahead of the January transfer window, with both Serie A clubs keen to prise him away if his minutes do not improve.
A star stuck in traffic
Endrick’s problem is not talent. It is traffic.
Real Madrid are overloaded with attacking options, and the Brazilian has struggled to carve out a regular place in Jose Mourinho’s starting XI. This season he has made only two La Liga appearances in 2026-27, a meagre return for a player signed to be part of the club’s future.
Several clubs sensed an opportunity in the summer. Interest grew, proposals were explored, but Mourinho blocked any exit. The Portuguese coach wanted Endrick in his squad, not on someone else’s team sheet.
The message was clear: stay, fight, wait.
Champions League reminder of his talent
Last week, Endrick offered a sharp reminder of what he can do when the stage is his.
Thrown on in the second half of Real Madrid’s Champions League clash with Roma, he changed the game. A goal, an assist, and a 4-3 comeback win that felt like a personal statement as much as a team result.
It was the kind of performance that normally unlocks a run of starts. The kind that makes a coach rethink his hierarchy.
Mourinho did hand him a place in the XI for the following La Liga match against Sevilla. The reward was there. The fairytale continuation was not. Endrick failed to find the net and, just as quickly as the door had opened, it seemed to close again.
In midweek against RB Leipzig, he was reduced to a two-minute cameo. A reminder of his current reality.
El Clasico from the bench
Now comes El Clasico on Sunday, the biggest domestic fixture of Madrid’s season, and Endrick is again expected to watch the first whistle rather than hear it on the pitch.
Mourinho is set to lean on Yan Diomande and Arda Guler on the wings, leaving Endrick among the substitutes. For a 20-year-old desperate to prove he belongs at the very top, the pattern is becoming hard to ignore.
If that pattern holds, pressure will grow – not only from suitors abroad, but from the player himself.
January decision looming
Endrick has already shown he can thrive with responsibility. During the second half of last season, he went on loan to Lyon and scored eight goals in 21 appearances. Regular football, clear role, tangible impact.
That spell in France now stands as a powerful argument for another temporary move.
Roma and Milan are both attentive, both convinced they can offer what Madrid currently cannot: a consistent run of starts and a central role in their attacking plans. A loan is firmly on the table again for this campaign, and if his situation under Mourinho does not improve, Endrick could actively push for that solution in January.
For now, he waits on the Madrid bench, a match-winner in Europe, a bit-part player in La Liga. The question is no longer whether he has the quality. It is whether Real Madrid can give him the stage often enough to keep him from looking elsewhere.
