Endrick's Journey: From Real Madrid to Lyon and World Cup Dreams

Endrick doesn’t sound like a teenager swept away by the glare of European football. He sounds like someone who has already ridden out the first storm and figured out what keeps him standing.

The Brazilian forward, speaking to Men in Blazers, laid bare just how jarring that first step into Real Madrid’s world can be.

“The first year is always tough,” he admitted. “You arrive at a club with players like [Luka] Modric, Vinicius, Rodrygo… It’s very difficult to play with all of them, but you also learn a lot.”

That dressing room can intimidate anyone. Ballon d’Or winners. Champions League regulars. Global icons at every turn. For a teenager, the route to the starting XI is a tightrope. Minutes are scarce, patience is demanded, and the scrutiny is relentless.

So he went looking for oxygen elsewhere. He found it in Lyon.

“I’ve been able to put everything I’ve learned into practice at Lyon, and when I return I’ll be able to demonstrate it there,” he said, framing the loan not as an escape, but as preparation.

The move away from the Santiago Bernabeu might have looked like a step back from the outside. Inside his own head, it became the turning point.

“It wasn’t difficult to go to Lyon. In the end, God told me I had to go, and I went. I wasn’t afraid; it’s been one of the best decisions of my life. I needed to play. I’ve been able to score goals, provide assists, and play a lot of minutes.”

Those minutes did more than sharpen his finishing. They steadied his mind. Yet the emotional lifeline didn’t come only from France; it rang from Madrid and Liverpool, day after day.

“Bellingham calls me every day,” Endrick revealed. “When I was feeling down, he’d pick me up and we’d talk. He helped me a lot. Trent too. They’re very approachable players.

“I try to learn from them, including English, but it’s impossible to understand them.”

The line is delivered with a laugh, but it underlines something serious: in a world of superstars, he found genuine support. Jude Bellingham and Trent Alexander-Arnold, established figures at the peak of the European game, acted as sounding boards and safety nets for a teenager trying to find his place.

That network of reassurance has carried him to the brink of the biggest stage of all.

“Playing in a World Cup is the greatest thing. Being able to represent my country is a dream come true,” he said, shifting from club battles to the weight of the yellow shirt.

For Brazil, the World Cup is never just another tournament. It’s a national obsession, a wound and a promise rolled into one.

“The World Cup is very important to people, and it's been a long time since we won it,” Endrick said, fully aware of the drought that shadows every new generation.

At the centre of that conversation still stands Neymar, a player Endrick clearly reveres.

“Neymar has Brazilian DNA. He's one of the best in our history.”

The respect stretches from the Seleção to the man who will soon coach him at club level. Carlo Ancelotti, already a legend in his own right, has made an impression long before Endrick’s full Real Madrid chapter begins.