Real Madrid experienced its first major disappointment of the season as a team with its elimination from the Club World Cup in the semifinals at the hands of PSG, which ran roughshod over the Merengue squad and handed it a painful 4-0 defeat. However, with the overall picture now clear, one player from Madrid’s first team is going through an ordeal that looks set to continue for several weeks.
Endrick has been injured again and is struggling to get back on his feet. The 18-year-old Brazilian striker has not had an easy season in his debut at Real Madrid, with many believing he has been given fewer minutes by Carlo Ancelotti than he deserved and than his performances warranted.
The arrival of Xabi Alonso was linked to a potential change in Endrick‘s role, but injuries have struck the Brazilian international, leaving him out of action for several months on two occasions.
In May, Real Madrid announced that Endrick would miss the Club World Cup after suffering an injury to his right hamstring.
The young striker was set to be a game-changer in a short tournament like the one being played in the United States, but he was unable to play a single minute under Xabi Alonso. After the Club World Cup, the Taguatinga-born footballer has suffered a relapse of the same injury, according to an exclusive report by The Athletic, and will be out for several more weeks, which is a major blow for Endrick, who has seen Gonzalo García’s explosion and the presence of Vinícius Júnior in the starting lineup.
according to an exclusive report by The Athletic, and will be out for several more weeks, which is a major blow for Endrick, who has seen the emergence of Gonzalo García and the presence of Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappé overshadow him in the starting lineup and even jeopardize his future at Real Madrid.
What is Endrick’s injury?
Endrick is suffering from a significant muscle problem in his hamstring tendon, which has forced him to rest for two months, a period that could now be extended by several weeks due to the reported relapse. Real Madrid has not issued an updated medical report, but in the coming hours, more specific information could be received on how long the striker will need to recover before finally joining Xabi Alonso’s squad.
Real Madrid now has a few days off, which the players will use to go on vacation and reset after the Club World Cup. Endrick was planning to take advantage of the break to make up for lost time, but a new setback caused by his physical condition has forced him to stop, rest, and continue working on the mental strength he will need to avoid sinking into despair over the situation.
Endrick’s future at Real Madrid
Deserving of more minutes last season, in which he scored seven goals in a total of 847 minutes, five of them in the Copa del Rey, Endrick faces a new scenario for the 2025-26 campaign, made more complicated by the injury that stopped him in May and from which he has now relapsed.
Xabi Alonso is looking to play many games with only two strikers, and there, in addition to the almost certain starting spots for Mbappé and Vinicius, we must add the presence of Rodrygo Goes and Brahim Díaz and the role of Gonzalo, who started in all the Club World Cup games and is Endrick’s direct competition for the number 9 spot. Real Madrid’s confidence in the young Brazilian is sky high, but first he must focus on his recovery and then decide, together with the club, whether to seek a loan move or stay and fight for a place.