Real Madrid fans were hopeful that Endrick would have a key role to play for Brazil at the 2026 World Cup after proving himself on loan at Lyon, shining as brightly as any player in the entire French top flight during his six months away from the Santiago Bernabeu.
After experiencing the lowest point of his career with a surprisingly Draconian Xabi Alonso, Endrick managed to turn the even more problematic Paulo Fonseca from a doubter into a believer, providing far more than just goals to the Lyon side.
But Carlo Ancelotti, Endrick's old manager, was still relucant to give him World Cup starts. By the knockouts, Endrick started to get into matches with significant playing time, but for all the cries from Madridistas and Brazil fans to Carletto to play Endrick more, all he did was prove the hesitancy right by making the big stage seem just a little too grand for him.
Endrick is a potential X-Factor
Jose Mourinho is cut from a different cloth, though. Ancelotti is a grandfather to the players, Jose is much more intense but can get that extra bit out of people that they did not know they had in him. Even players who did not fulfill themselves with him, such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, admit to the power and the feeling of becoming killers that they got with Mourinho.
The Portuguese manager sees Endrick as important to his team, both as a right winger or a striker. Obviously, Kylian Mbappe has the center spot locked down, and any possible opening for Endrick to surprisingly swoop in and steal his spot has been 100 percent erased by Mbappe's record World Cup performances this summer.
Now, the right wing is more open. Rodrygo Goes is still rehabbing, and the only other left footers that profile there are really playmakers: Arda Guler, Brahim Diaz, and Franco Mastantuono. They are not wingers. And Michael Olise is 99.99999 percent staying at Bayern Munich this summer, at least.
So Endrick coming back to the first team with Jose Mourinho leaves everything up in the air for Real Madrid. He has an inside track at starting on the right wing by virtue of his raw talent, performances at Lyon, left foot and explosiveness, and even the nod from Mou. But if he is not at the maturity to excel under the pressure of Madrid and only thinks of shooting as an option with the pressure on, Madrid may have to have a rethink.
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