72 million euros converted into a mem

BarcelonaWhen Real Madrid set their sights on Brazil in 2022, they did so with the conviction that they had found the next great prodigy and, finally, the successor to Cristiano Ronaldo. Expectations, now excessive, prompted the club to make a massive investment in Palmeiras star Endrick Felipe Moreira. The gamble was reminiscent of those previously made with Vinícius and Rodrygo. Three years after exploding in the transfer window, the situation of this speedy and compact striker is one of absolute ostracism. So much so that if things don't turn around in the near future, he will far surpass Barça's poor investment in another promising Brazilian, Vitor Roque.

The teenager Endrick shone in Palmeiras' youth ranks and was beginning to stand out in the first team, where he proved himself on par with the best in his league. The jump to Europe represented a giant leap forward for his career and a strategic move for Madrid. Florentino Pérez, checkbook in hand and eyeing the future, didn't hesitate: 72 million euros on the table—35 million fixed, 25 million variable, and 12 million taxes—to present his new star at the Bernabéu. A statement of intent for the second most expensive transfer in the history of Brazilian football, behind only Neymar. Such was the hope that Real Madrid gave him a legendary number 9. In Madrid, they were rubbing their hands together, imagining the new talent winning titles. But time and expectations have put things right: he wasn't anyone's replacement, not even a reliable backup.

The stats, in fact, are devastating. Overall, the Taguatinga-born forward has only seven goals and one assist in 37 matches for Real Madrid, all last season. Recent months have been even more worrying: he hasn't played a single minute in the last five. His presence has gone from symbolic to invisible. While his participation was limited under Carlo Ancelotti, under Xabi Alonso it has become nonexistent. The Basque national team player, however, has tried to downplay the situation and emphasized the difficulty of competing at the highest level: "This is elite football, and we need a lot of players, a lot of good ones. They're coming in or will come in."

"His representatives believed he'd get minutes."

Cope journalist Juanma Castaño, speaking to ARA, echoed this sentiment: "He's not playing because being a striker at Madrid is very difficult and because those ahead of him are doing it better. While Mbappé, Vinícius, Rodrygo, or even Bellingham, Güler, or Brahim are physically fit, it will be very difficult for him." Indeed, Kylian Mbappé's arrival coincided with that of Endrick, who has failed to take advantage of the few opportunities he's been given. Nor has he turned the drop in form of his two compatriots up front, Vinícius and Rodrygo, into an opportunity to break through. Furthermore, a hamstring injury in May 2025 halted his progress, just as he was beginning to gain confidence under Ancelotti. This physical setback kept him out of the Club World Cup and caused him to lose his competitive rhythm at a key moment in his adaptation.

Added to all this is the psychological factor, often forgotten in sports stories. Endrick arrived in Madrid at sixteen (he's now nineteen), following an unprecedented media explosion in Brazil. The pressure of having to justify a multi-million-dollar investment, adapting to a new culture, and training every day with established stars. Brazilian journalist Thiago Arantes focuses on the development of his signing at that point, in 2022: "His representatives didn't know then if Madrid would sign Mbappé. They believed he'd get playing time and a leading role, but now no one can compete with Mbappé."

Playing time at Madrid is expensive, but Endrick's reality is worrying because he's a player who commands a €60 million investment and has seen other young players like Brahim, Mastantuono, and even Gonzalo, who joins from La Fábrica, pass him by. In this sense, Castaño believes the situation will change in the coming months: "It's not normal that he doesn't play a single minute. Perhaps it's a message from the club for me to understand that the logical thing to do would be to look for an alternative in December." He rejected it in the summer, but now he's beginning to see that if he wants to reach the World Cup, he'll have to get playing time on loan to another team.

"Endrick can succeed at Madrid in a context without Mbappé, but right now there's no room for him," acknowledges Arantes, who is optimistic about the performances of a player who caused quite a stir in his country. Now, while he waits for the window to feel like a footballer again, he watches as social media, always relentless, circulates memes and mosaics with photographs of his expressionless, almost sad face on the benches of stadiums.