Endrick's goal scoring drought endures as minutes with Palmeiras dry up

Endrick is now not even playing. He has watched two consecutive matches from the bench, coinciding with the Paulista Championship play-offs that Palmeiras, the main favourites for the title, are playing.

In principle, the lack of minutes for the Verdao's 'menino prodígio' does not have major relevance considering he is a 16-year-old player still developing. However, there are two factors to take into account: firstly, Real Madrid signed the striker in December for €35 million in a whirlwind deal ahead of PSG, and secondly, since then, the No '9' has been in a drought that has lasted more than two months.

The reality is that since he signed his signature on the contract that tied him to Madrid, Endrick has not scored a goal. That's 12 official matches, between the final of the Supercopa do Brasil (which his team won 4-3 against Flamengo) and the matches in the Campeonato Paulista, without scoring a goal.

And the new step, during this goal-scoring blackout, aken by his coach, the Portuguese Abel Ferreira, is to rest him. If the aim was to remove him from the spotlight and the pressure, he has not succeeded.

The alarm bells have already been activated in Madrid with the situation Endrick is enduring. And the director of international football, Juni Calafat, was in Sao Paulo last week to meet with the player and give him support from his future club, who he will join in the summer of 2024 when he has reached the age of 18 and can make the leap to European football.

Endrick's team have already qualified for the final of the Campeonato Paulista, after beating Ituano 1-0 (they had defeated Corinthians in the quarter-finals). The other finalist will come from the game between Agua Santa (who saw off Rogério Ceni's Sao Paulo) and Red Bull Bragantino, which takes place at Vila Belmiro in Santos.