Endrick was all set to go to Chelsea before the approach of Real Madrid. He and his father Douglas revealed that the deal was almost struck, but the Blues management thought that the value would inflate the market for other players. They talked about it in an interview with English paper The Guardian.
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"I was very close. My parents really liked London and everyone speaks very highly of it," said Endrick, which Douglas complemented:
"I have to admit I do not like the cold but my wife and Endrick do. Endrick really likes playing in the rain. So we received an invitation from Chelsea, from the owner, and we went there to see the club and the country. We watched Chelsea play Arsenal and we got to see the coach, the facilities, Jorginho, César Azpilicueta and Thiago Silva.
"They explained everything to us. They introduced us to the person who would help us settle in. She showed us the house we would live in, the school Endrick would go to, the church we would attend. Everything was right with us and Chelsea.
"I can’t say 100% because I hadn’t signed, but the deal was agreed. I had already got it into my head that I would live in London with all that cold weather. But then at night, my son’s manager phoned and said that the Chelsea owner had backed out of the deal because the price they would have to pay for Endrick would inflate the market. It was €60m [£51.4m] for a 16-year-old boy who would only arrive in the country almost two years later."
The deal fell through, but the Palmeiras" jewel will join Real Madrid in July 2024.
