Real Madrid News
Chelsea, PSG target ‘one step away’ from joining Real Madrid – report
Palmeiras’ wonderkid Endrick has been the talk of the town in recent weeks, with many top clubs from Europe vying to sign him up. However, the race to sign the 16-year-old prodigy is seemingly in the final stages, with Real Madrid set to come out on top.
Indeed, earlier reports indicated that Los Blancos had agreed to pay €60 million to sign Endrick from Palmeiras and hoped to complete the deal before the end of December.
Now, according to a fresh update on El Primer Palo (h/t Madrid Xtra), Endrick is now just one step away from signing for Real Madrid.
The 16-year-old enjoyed his breakthrough this year, starring for Palmeiras’ youth team at the Copinha tournament, before he made an impression with Brazil’s youth national team as well.
Having broken into Palmeiras’ first-team setup recently, he scored three goals in seven matches, helping them win the Brazilian league title.
Apart from Real Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona and PSG had been hot on the trails of Endrick.
The Blues had hosted the 16-year-old wonderkid at their training facilities where he had met and interacted with Thiago Silva. PSG, meanwhile, had made multiple offers for Endrick already, but they were shot down by Palmeiras.
However, all things point towards Endrick becoming a Real Madrid player in the near future. Even though Los Blancos might sign the 16-year-old sensation now, fans will have to wait until 2024 to see the youngster arrive at the club, as he can leave Brazil only after he turns 18.
Real Madrid have had great success by employing similar transfer strategies with Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo. A €60 million investment on a 16-year-old does seem like a huge risk, but it could prove to be a huge success if Endrick goes on to fulfil his vast potential.
Real Madrid are blessed to have the services and loyalty of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos. The duo have run the show in the Merengues’ midfield for close to a decade and continue to deliver flawless performances to date.
Of the two, however, it is the Croatian who deserves the higher credit. The veteran is now 37 years of age, yet dominates the middle of the park with grace and poise like none other.
Stephen Estuaqio, an FC Porto player and Canada International, spoke earlier this week about why he considered Luka Modric to be a special player and compared him with Kevin de Bruyne to support his stance.
“I played against De Bruyne, but I ran behind Modrić. I couldn’t play against him. It’s crazy how he dictates the game and controls everything. It was a lesson for me,” he said on The 90th minute on Youtube.
With his contract running out next season, Real Madrid are looking to renew his deal by one year come June. Yet, it is difficult to see him continue beyond next season and his imminent departure will mark the end of an era at the club.
Thus, Modric could be an altered role come next season. With a young midfielder, possibly Jude Bellingham set to arrive, the veteran could move into a mentorship role with the occasional appearance in big games.
This season, however, Carlo Ancelotti will continue to use him as one of the backbones of the side and deploy the maestro in the must-win fixtures coming up later this month.
At 37 years of age, Modric has started 16 La Liga games over 24 appearances this season in the competition. He has scored four goals and provided three assists in that process in addition to creating eight big chances with an average of 1.8 key passes per game.
