It was a Portuguese coach and former Milan manager who revived Endrick’s career. With Paulo Fonseca on the bench, Endrick rediscovered his goals, assists and, above all, the confidence that long spells on the Real Madrid bench had taken away from him.
At Lyon, where Fonseca moved two weeks after being dismissed by Milan, Endrick achieved more in six months than he had in two and a half seasons in Madrid: eight goals and eight assists in 21 appearances in France, compared with seven goals and one assist in 41 games for Real.
And there appears to be little sign of that trend reversing. Partly because of muscular problems, the Brazilian’s season so far can essentially be summed up by the four minutes he played as a substitute against Elche in La Liga on September 15. He then spent the full 90 minutes on the bench in the derby against Atlético Madrid.
It is hardly the rise that was expected when Real Madrid bought him four years ago, while he was still only 16, for €35 million plus a further €25 million in bonuses.
Another club could therefore step in and change the course of his career — and that club could be Milan. The January transfer market has effectively already begun.
On a temporary basis
When Milan set their sights on a target, they often manage to get their man. The summer transfer window, with Gila, Ramos and Moreira, offers partial evidence of that. Other deals were merely postponed: Gonçalo Inácio as a defensive reinforcement from Sporting Lisbon, and then Endrick himself, whom Milan had already tried to sign at the end of August.
Mourinho was the one who wanted to keep him, forcing Milan to look elsewhere.
In the meantime, the attacking hierarchy at Real Madrid has remained unchanged, and overtaking Vinícius, Mbappé, Díaz, Diomande and the rest is far from easy.
The club’s stance has also remained unchanged for now: if another team wants Endrick, it will be free to come forward with a legitimate loan request.
That formula would allow Milan to have him in red and black for five months at virtually no cost — and after that, who knows? Contracts can always be renegotiated.
January naturally lends itself to less complicated negotiations, so the clubs could discuss a loan while agreeing to revisit the situation in the summer, giving themselves three months to understand whether circumstances might allow the arrangement to become something more permanent, writes Gazzetta dello Sport in this morning's print edition.
In the meantime, Endrick, on loan at Milan, would be expected to prove useful to the club’s new project and fit into the mechanisms of the attack.
He could be used as a right-sided attacking midfielder in a pair supporting Ramos, alongside Pulisic. But he could also fit into other systems, either playing off the centre-forward or operating as the striker himself.
The area of the pitch where Endrick would likely play is crowded, but there is no undisputed first-choice player there. Saelemaekers was the latest to partner Pulisic before getting injured. Cissé had been prominent at the beginning of the season, while the most recent transfer window (once Milan had realised that Endrick was unattainable) also brought in Hutchinson, himself on loan from Nottingham Forest.
The relationships...
Negotiations between the clubs could be helped by the excellent relationship between Gerry Cardinale, one of Milan’s leading figures, and Roc Nation Sports, the agency that represents Endrick.
Roc Nation has become a major force in the industry, despite having entered football representation only relatively recently and choosing to work exclusively with high-level players.
Milan and Roc Nation have been partners since 2020 in what was officially described as a “unique partnership driven by innovation, community, integrity and inclusion.”
The official announcement stated that the key pillars of the partnership would include philanthropy, music programming, merchandising collaborations, brand amplification and creative activities, the execution of a digital strategy, commercial sales and cultural events.
The partnership does not directly concern the transfer market, but the strong relationship built over the years could still prove useful in this case — for example, by helping Milan overcome competition from Roma in Italy as well as from foreign clubs.
Milan and Real Madrid, two clubs with a traditionally good relationship, could reach an agreement quickly.
Endrick’s approval of a move to San Siro to relaunch his career would seemingly be a formality.
Of course, Milan supporters would almost have to hope that the player spends a few more months without much professional satisfaction, watching his teammates from the sidelines while waiting for January to arrive.
His salary would be affordable for Milan. He signed for Real while still a minor, a year and a half before actually moving to Europe.
Endrick has also recently been involved with the Brazilian national team. The man who restored his confidence and gave him minutes on the pitch was another former Milan coach, now Brazil manager: Carlo Ancelotti.
Milan, it seems, may be written into his destiny.
