Much has been made of Endrick’s lack of game time under Real Madrid boss Xabi Alonso this season. Especially as West Ham United linger in the shadows.
Hammers News reported earlier on Wednesday, via chief football correspondent Graeme Bailey, that Brazil international Endrick is on West Ham’s radar ahead of the January transfer window.
And not for the first time either.
Bailey explains that West Ham United were ‘at the head of the queue’ this time last year, as well. Not only that, they made their interest known in the summer of 2024, after Endrick finally made the move from Palmeiras to Real Madrid on his 18th birthday.
So, with the teenager still awaiting his first minutes of the Xabi Alonso era, the phrase ‘third time lucky’ came to mind as Nuno Espirito Santo’s side again put themselves in contention.
Though, speaking to Diario AS, Alonso insists that the speculation surrounding Endrick’s future has been more than a little overblown.
Xabi Alonso clarifies Endrick’s Real Madrid situation amid West Ham United interest
That Endrick has not featured since former Bayer Leverkusen boss Alonso returned to the Santiago Bernabeu is, the Spaniard explains, largely down to a hamstring injury which ruled him out of Real’s Club World Cup campaign.
And though fellow forward Gonzalo Garcia seized his chance to impress in Endrick’s absence – seemingly moving up to second place in the pecking order as Kylian Mbappe’s go-to back-up – the man in charge insists that Endrick’s ‘time will come’.
“He has a chance to be a starter [in the near future],” says Alonso, who has included Endrick in his squad for each of the last four La Liga matches albeit while not bringing him off the bench.
“He’s coming off a slightly longer injury, but he’s been training well for a few weeks now and it’s just a matter of finding the right context in the game for him to come on.
“He has a goal-scoring instinct. A brutal finish. There’s just a lot of competition. But his time will come.”
AS, meanwhile, add that Endrick has no intention of giving up the ghost. While a potential switch to West Ham would only be a short-term loan, a 19-year-old with 14 Brazil caps is determined to show Xabi Alonso that he can play a major role not just in the future but in the present, too.
“West Ham have tried to sign Endrick on more than one occasion,” Bailey reveals. “They were at the head of the queue in January [2025] for instance, had he moved on loan.
“They even asked when he originally arrived in Madrid, in case he was allowed to go. Endrick, I am told, was open to the possibility had he left on loan, but it was always about creating his chance at Madrid.
“The fact it still hasn’t worked out, then, I am told West Ham still would like to take him. And if he is allowed out, West Ham honestly can’t be discounted.”
Carlo Ancelotti called Brazil wonderkid Endrick a ‘spectacular’ talent
In addition to Endrick, West Ham have been linked with Parma’s Mateo Pellegrino and Manchester United benchwarmer Joshua Zirkzee.
Hammers News were told that Nuno Espirito Santo could target a Chris Wood reunion – last season’s 20-goal talisman at Nottingham Forest – though Cruzeiro talisman Kaio Jorge played down rumours surrounding a move to East London last month.
Endrick, who has seven goals in just eight Real Madrid starts, joined the 15-time European champions in a deal worth up to £60 million when he was just 16 years of age.
Only time will tell, however, whether Endrick ends up emulating Vinicius Jr or Rodrygo Goes – two more Brazilians who joined Real as teenagers – or he ends up drifting away from the limelight, a la forgotten man Reinier Jesus.
“He is spectacular,” Carlo Ancelotti, Alonso’s predecessor, told Reuters after Endrick’s searing run and silky finish against Real Sociedad in the spring.
“He has these amazing characteristics he has shown whenever he has a chance. His accuracy is off the charts, he’s quick and he still has a lot to improve with the ball.
“Wow; his dribbling, his runs, the shot he has, he is just spectacular. Very young, but a very fast learner.”
