Real Madrid has completed the signing of Brazilian teenager Endrick beating several European powerhouses to his signature.
Both clubs have officially announced the agreement.
The 16-year-old will join the La Liga champions in July 2024 when he turns 18 as FIFA prohibits underage players from playing abroad.
Endrick is seen as Brazil’s next big thing in football and Real Madrid had to stave off competition from Paris St-Germain, Chelsea, Barcelona, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United, who were also chasing the young prospect.
Real and Palmeiras did not disclose any financial details of the agreement but many media outlets have claimed the transfer fee to be in the region of 70 million euros which will make him the second most expensive transfer in the history of the Brazilian championship.
Barcelona reportedly paid Santos 88 million euros for Neymar in 2013 which remains the record.
Real Madrid handed similar deals to Rodrygo and Vinicus Jr who have both made themselves a regular part of Madrid’s team.
Endrick has scored 170 goals in 176 matches for Palmeiras’ academy since joining them in 2017. He remains Palmeiras’ youngest-ever debutant at 16 years two months and 15 days before becoming their youngest-ever scorer less than a month later.
He is the only player to win a championship in all the club’s age groups – Under-11, Under-13, Under-15, Under-17, Under-20 and at the professional level.
“I want to thank Palmeiras for offering me everything necessary to become what I am today, Endrick said in an official statement.
“Until I join Real Madrid, I will continue to dedicate myself as I always have in order to offer Palmeiras even more on the field”.
