Endrick makes history with Lyon hat-trick – but will it help him make the Real Madrid first team?

Just a fortnight after making his bow for Olympique Lyonnais, Endrick is already inviting comparison with some illustrious names.

Lyon’s 5-2 win at bottom-placed Metz on Saturday brought up a number of personal landmarks for the 19-year-old Brazil international, whose three-goal salvo brought his overall return from three Ligue 1 outings to four goals and an assist. 

Endrick, who joined Lyon on loan from Real Madrid last month, is now the youngest player in club history to score a league hat-trick. With an impudent close-range dink, the composed finish with which he capped an electrifying run that carried him beyond a trio of pursuing defenders, and a neatly-placed penalty, the teenager eclipsed the record set in March 1972 by the late France international Bernard Lacombe, widely regarded as one of the greatest players ever to pull on the shirt. 

This century, meanwhile, only Jérémy Ménez, Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé have scored Ligue 1 hat-tricks at a younger age.

Endrick Lyon hat-trick breaks Ronaldo Nazairo record

The record that might please Endrick most, however, lies closer to home. The Madrid attacker has now surpassed Ronaldo Nazairo as the youngest Brazilian to score a hat-trick in one of Europe’s top five leagues, an achievement that will not go unnoticed in his homeland – and should give Carlo Ancelotti, the Brazil head coach, plenty of food for thought as he ponders the make-up of his next Seleção squad.

“It’s the first hat-trick of my life,” said Endrick, whose new side remain in fourth place. “I’m so happy, really. It was an incredible match. I’m going to keep the ball at home. It’s an amazing day in my life.”

The forward’s performance did not go unnoticed by his team-mates in the Spanish capital. “Bobbbyyyyyy faz gol tá” – “Bobby scores a goal” – Vinícius Júnior wrote on social media, a nod towards the nickname Endrick’s Madrid colleagues have given him on account of his admiration for the late Manchester United legend Bobby Charlton. “Bobbiiigol,” chimed in Jude Bellingham, with Antonio Rüdiger adding: “Boooobbbbbyyy”.

Endrick: ‘a different kind of player’

Aside from bolstering Endrick’s World Cup prospects and earning the respect of his contemporaries, the attacker’s form in Ligue could redefine his standing at Madrid. 

Reduced to a bit-part player at the Bernabéu under former manager Xabi Alonso, Endrick has thrived so far at Lyon, not only on the regular playing time he has been given, but also in a new position on the right wing assigned to him by manager Paulo Fonseca, who has hailed him as “a different kind of player”. If Endrick can maintain the trajectory he has established for the remainder of the season, he will return to Madrid this summer in a very different vein.