Endrick entered the room of João Paulo Sampaio, coordinator of the youth teams of Palmeiras, in October of last year. Alongside midfielder Luis Guilherme, he made a request to the manager: the release for the pair to compete in the Nike Cup, a sub-15 tournament that would take place the following month.
“Fine. But if you don’t win, I’ll shave your heads”, was the manager’s reply.
The 15-year-old duo was in the under-20s and accepted the bet. Palmeiras won the tournament and thrashed Corinthians 5-0 in the final. Luis Guilherme scored three goals, and Endrick scored one.
The duo is the big bet of the base of the alviverde team and was entered in the Copa São Paulo, an under-21 competition. Endrick has scored four times and has become one of the attractions of the tournament. Since Neymar’s debut, also at the age of 15, in January 2008, such a young player has not attracted much attention.
“Endrick is a force of nature. You can’t stop him,” says Sampaio, who was responsible for betting on the boy, who was 11 years old at the time. Until the beginning of Copinha, he had 165 goals in 169 matches for the club. Most of that time, he acted in categories above his age. The idea was for him to feel challenged.
At 14, he was taken to the under-17. At 15, for the under-20. He has already trained with the professionals, called by Abel Ferreira.
“He can’t play in Brazil, but he can play in the World Cup. The crowd would be crazy about it. I’ve joked with other people saying it’s the ideal scenario”, says Wagner Ribeiro, who has been called Endrick’s father’s advisor.
The agent’s phrase (who cannot be called the striker’s manager, who still doesn’t have a professional agreement) plays with the fact that the center-forward position is the most lacking in the professional squad.
Endrick can be registered for next month’s World Cup, but he can only play for the main squad in Brazil when he turns 16 and signs his first professional contract. This will only occur in July. For now, Palmeiras has a training club document.
Ferreira is unlikely to bet on a 15-year-old boy in the team’s most important competition in 2022. As talented as he is. It is possible, for now, that shirt 9 will help Palmeiras to seek another unprecedented title: the Copa São Paulo.
Last week, he tested positive for Covid-19, but showed no symptoms and was cleared to return to the round of 16, a 2-1 victory over Internacional. The Gaucho club asked for the points of the confrontation because the protocol against the pandemic would not have been followed.
If nothing changes, this Wednesday (20th), Endrick will be on the field for Palmerias against Oeste, at 7pm, in Barueri, for a spot in the semifinals.
In theory, any rival could take the promise of a star from Palestra Itália. But, if he goes abroad now, he will only be able to act when he is 18 years old. If a Brazilian wants to sign him, he will have to pay, according to Sampaio, R$ 20 million.
“The main thing is that the boy, his family and the businessmen don’t want to take him out of here”, completes the base coordinator.
Palmeiras bet on Endrick’s talent when opponents in the state had doubts. The striker was already considered a precocious talent in Brasília, where he lived. He was observed by São Paulo and was even part of a team training program.
His father, Douglas Souza, asked the Morumbi club to give his son a chance in the basic categories. But he warned that the family needed support and he needed a job to move. São Paulo offered R$ 150 per month. Santos, not even that. Answered just don’t work that way.
Sampaio watched him in a video sent by a businessman and decided it was worth betting. Endrick’s parents worked at the Mané Garrincha stadium, and economic conditions were difficult. Douglas told in interviews about days when his son asked for something to eat and there was nothing in the house.
Palmeiras agreed to take them to the capital of São Paulo, give their father a living allowance and a job. He was hired as a janitor at the Football Academy. With the goals scored by the boy in the youth categories, he soon became known as “Endrick’s father” and made several friendships. Goalkeeper Jailson (now at Cruzeiro) paid for his dental treatment.
When the striker suffered an injury in his first months at the club, it was not treated in the amateur department. Received the same care given to professionals. Physiotherapy was performed at the training center. In the last visit of Gabriel Jesus (the last great shirt number 9 revealed by the team), Palmeiras arranged a meeting between the two.
“Endrick was always very humble. His family is the same. He was never a kid who found himself. He always attracted attention, had sponsorships and never got carried away by it. It’s the same as when he arrived”, says Sampaio.
Douglas no longer works at the Football Academy and embraced the career of fathering a possible future star. He keeps his friends at the club, but he knows that the attention of managers, the first professional contract with the team and the brands interested in sponsoring the striker will change the family’s life. Endrick already has a deal with Nike.
Interest from abroad became inevitable. The Spanish press has already called him the “new Vinicius Junior”.
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