Real Madrid-bound star Endrick is just 17 but already has his own entourage including a chef, physios and marketing gurus – and he’s signed to Jay-Z’s agency! Meet the £51m man who is ready for his Brazil bow

Each occasionally, a genius emerges from Brazil. Pele within the late Fifties, Zico 15 years later. Ronaldo within the mid-Nineties and Ronaldinho following rapidly behind him. Now, a brand new magician is prepared for international stardom.

Endrick had performed simply seven occasions for Palmeiras final December when Actual Madrid agreed a £52.5million deal for him to hitch them when he turns 18 in July subsequent yr.

His star rose when he scored 165 objectives in 169 video games for Palmeiras’s youth groups, and he snubbed Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain to hitch his nationwide team-mates Vinicius Jnr and Rodrygo in Madrid. on Thursday evening, aged 17 years and 118 days, he’s anticipated to make his Brazil debut in a World Cup qualifier in Colombia. Solely Pele and two stars of the Sixties, Edu and Coutinho, had been youthful.

‘It has at all times been an final dream to put on the Brazil jersey,’ Endrick tells Mail Sport. ‘Issues have occurred in a short time in my life, and that is one other dream come true. I can solely thank my household, brokers, and Palmeiras, who’ve at all times believed in me.’

The Brazil field is about to be ticked and he’ll obtain his different massive goal too regardless of his tender years. ‘My dream, since I used to be little, has at all times been to play for Actual Madrid,’ he provides. ‘Cristiano Ronaldo is one among my greatest idols. So it’s a nice delight to know that I’ll put on the identical shirt he wore.’

Endrick is already signed to Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports activities company, and can go away his Nike deal to change into the face of New Stability earlier than he strikes to Madrid.

His entourage already numbers greater than a dozen, from cooks to physiotherapists, tactical analysts and advertising and marketing professionals, all precision engineering this treasured expertise.

‘Endrick isn’t just an athlete who executes a transfer completely, however an athlete who executes surprising strikes at totally different moments of the sport,’ says his Roc Nation supervisor Thiago Freitas. ‘It’s troublesome to arrange to face him as a result of it’s troublesome to know what you’ll face. In a number of of his objectives, he begins explosively, taking up defenders at excessive pace, and simply if you suppose he’ll end with the identical power, he finishes as if he had been enjoying together with his youthful brother, ready for the opposing goalkeeper to fall. He has two hearts, every beating at a very totally different rhythm.’

In his personal phrases, Endrick is a bit more delicate. Mail Sport asks him to stroll by way of the sport that sealed his call-up to the nationwide workforce — a 4-3 win for Palmeiras over closest title rivals Botafogo a fortnight in the past.

Trailing 3-0 away from residence at half-time, Endrick took over within the second half, scoring twice and organising the equaliser earlier than Palmeiras received the sport within the 99th minute. He demonstrated the entire qualities that set Actual’s eyes on him: dribbling, explosive tempo and a rocket shot with both his stronger left foot or his proper.

‘There are solely fractions of seconds to outline the play,’ says Endrick. ‘I did what was crucial on the time. It’s one thing I’ve been doing since my journey by way of the youth groups, which is to be blissful and play soccer.

‘It’s about having fun with going ahead, dribbling, capturing at aim, and doing no matter it takes for the workforce to win.’

It has not all been plain crusing. Endrick’s 2023 started slowly, when he misplaced his beginning place in mid-season. Now, he’s entrance and centre once more as Palmeiras’s prime scorer within the league with 9 as they appear to retain the title.

‘At no level did I cling my head as a result of I wasn’t enjoying,’ he says. ‘It was a interval {of professional} development. (Palmeiras boss) Abel Ferreira at all times talked to me, so I used to be extra relaxed, revered his determination, and saved working. Now the chance has come to indicate what I can do on the pitch, and I’m very grateful for every little thing that’s occurring. It’s a second to take pleasure in and be blissful.’

His success just isn’t all the way down to probability. He has expertise, after all, however a fierce dedication too.

‘The primary two occasions I met Endrick had been simply earlier than his 14th birthday,’ says Freitas. ‘What impressed me essentially the most was that he was totally conscious of his potential — and the distinction between potential and achievement.

‘Younger footballers, particularly in Brazil, are bombarded with consideration and most of them imagine that their potential is a divine assure, that they may naturally excel just by ready for time to cross. Endrick was totally different. His expertise was amplified by himself, not by us.

‘Success solely comes when the athlete is keen to sacrifice. Sacrificing leisure time, sacrificing meals and sacrificing consolation — to continually demand extra from his physique and get used to the ache that this demand brings.’

Thus far that sacrifice appears to be paying off.