Trouble for Real Madrid, they paid a fortune for this star and now he's not playing

In recent years Real Madrid have gambled on young players who were starting to excel in teams in other leagues and bought them for a lot of money, hoping that they would eventually become stars. These bets are sometimes risky, as there are many examples of talented players who never live up to expectations.

However, recent cases have been huge successes. Vinicius Junior was bought by Los Merengues in 2018, when he had barely played a few games at Flamengo. After a few first seasons in which he did not have too much participation in the Spanish side, he earned a place in the team and today is considered by many the best winger in the world. Something similar happened with Rodrygo, who arrived at the age of 18 from Santos.

In 2022 Florentino Pérez repeated the bet and paid $70 million for Endrick Felipe. The Palmeiras striker was just 16 years old and had just a few games in the Brazilian league, but he was already surprising onlookers thanks to his talent and ability to score goals. However, his arrival in Spain has not yet taken place, as FIFA rules do not allow him to be signed until he is 18 years old.

In the meantime, the player continues at Palmeiras, although his present is far from what was expected: he has not played an official match for 15 days, when he came on after 25 minutes of the second half to replace José Lopez in the 0-0 draw against Internacional. After two matches, against Fortaleza and America MG, he did not even play a minute and was left on the substitutes' bench.

It's more and more usual

The signing of Endrick by Real Madrid adds to a long list of similar cases. Los Merengues are not the only ones to do so, as Barcelona this year agreed to buy striker Vitor Roque, who will remain at Athletico Paranaense until 2024.