Endrick is one of the most sought after talents in the world and Real Madrid have seemingly won the race to sign the 16-year-old attacker. Chelsea were one of a number of clubs including Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and Barcelona interested in signing the Brazilian wonderkid who now looks set to join the Spanish giants.
Endrick cannot leave current club Palmeiras until 2024, but he has now agreed to join Madrid with the Champions League holders set to pay his €60million (£51million) release clause. The Blues had invited the youngster's family to the Cobham training ground and enlisted the help of Brazil icon Thiago Silva to sell the project to Endrick.
The Brazilian talent is said to have preferred to join Chelsea following that visit, but his head turned after meeting with Madrid. Endrick will follow in the footsteps of Neymar, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo who all made the move from Brazil to Spain and star in La Liga.
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According to The Athletic, Endrick and his family were impressed by the Blues following their visit to Cobham, but felt they were ‘more hesitant in committing to financial terms’ with a large element of the deal said to be performance-related. Todd Boehly has aimed to restructure how Chelsea offer players contracts, with a new focus on offering incentivised contracts based on performances.
This has proved to be an issue with Mason Mount's contract negotiations as the England star wants a salary that represents his importance to the team. It is also believed that changes made by their new American co-owner to the club’s recruitment department may have also been a factor in why Endrick snubbed the Blues.
There has been plenty of changes at Stamford Bridge as the adjustment period under Boehly continues ahead of his second transfer window in charge of Chelsea. Graham Potter will be hoping to secure a number of new signings after inheriting Thomas Tuchel's squad in September, days after the summer transfer window closed in which the Blues spent close to £300million.
Boehly remains keen to sign talented youngsters to protect Chelsea's long-term success, but it looks as though they will miss out on Endrick and need to focus on other midfield targets. Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham are both thought to be on the Blues radar ahead of the summer transfer window next year.
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