How Real Madrid loanee Endrick is finding a new home at Lyon

Two games into his temporary stay in Lyon, Endrick appears to have found a new home in more ways than one.

The 19-year-old forward, who moved to the Ligue 1 club last month on loan from Real Madrid until the end of the season, has enjoyed a productive start in France. Having scored the winner against Lille in the Coupe de France on his debut, Endrick marked his first appearance at Parc Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday by setting up fellow Brazil international Abner Vinícius for the decisive goal in a 2-1 victory over Brest.

Never mind rediscovering his sharpness after months of inactivity, Endrick has hit the ground running. You would never guess he has spent all but 22 minutes of the previous five months either kicking his heels on the Madrid bench or in the treatment room. Bursting with energy, creativity and joyful exuberance, the striker has not been afraid to express himself; already, the locals are fighting the impulse to fall in love with a player who will be gone by the summer.

Endrick’s performance against Brest earns rave reviews

Despite earning rave reviews in the French press, not everything Endrick tried against Brest came off.

At one point, having neatly dispossessed a defender to set up a clear run on goal, he attempted to dink the ball over Grégoire Coudert, the onrushing Brest goalkeeper, when it might have been simpler to take the ball around him. It wasn’t quite in the same category as the infamous failed chip against Getafe last spring that prompted dark mutterings about theatricality from former Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti, who immediately withdrew him. Still, it was a reminder that, for all his ability, Endrick’s talent sometimes commands his decision-making, rather than vice versa. 

Czech international Pavel Šulc was later left spreading his arms in frustration after Endrick failed to cap a marauding run through the middle with the square pass that would have created a shooting opportunity, while there were moments when Endrick’s electric feet could not keep pace with his equally swift thinking, prompting him to lose control of the ball. 

More often, though, his dazzling array of tricks and flicks took the breath away. A visionary turn-and-pass from central midfield that bypassed the Brest defence deserved better than a poor first touch from Šulc. The Czech international also failed to capitalise on an audacious, beautifully-weighted “trivela” pass that left him with only the goalkeeper to beat. 

Intriguingly, Endrick’s influential contribution once again came from a relatively unfamiliar starting position on the right wing, where Lyon head coach Paulo Fonseca fielded him for a second straight game – albeit not before some pre-match kidology.

Lyon boss Paulo Fonseca: ‘We’ll see about Endrick’s best position’

“Endrick will play, but I don’t know what position yet,” Fonseca said in the prelude to Brest’s visit. “He played on the right [against Lille] and he can hold this position. 

“We’ll see what’s the best position for Endrick. We talk about him, [but] he is only 19 years old, he is a young player.

“The French championship is very different from Spain: the intensity, the playing time, the characteristics of the opponents. His adaptation has been very positive. In the first few weeks, I didn’t give him too much information to understand the championship, the opponents and the intentions of the team.

“He needs time to adapt to the collective aspects, defensive aspects, which he was not used to.”

While that may be true, on the evidence of his latest performance, Endrick clearly has plenty to offer in the meantime.

His blistering pace is such that he is equally comfortable going inside or outside the opposing full-back, while his technical quality ensures his crosses and cut-backs invariably arrive in dangerous areas. Against Brest, his work ethic was beyond reproach. Neither has a positional change diminished his goal, as he demonstrated with a long-range effort that stung the palms of Coudert. 

Could Endrick’s versatility bolster his World Cup hopes?

As Endrick strives to earn a place in Brazil’s World Cup squad, his newfound versatility will not have gone unnoticed by Ancelotti, who has been in charge of the Seleção since last summer. 

It was the Italian who counselled Endrick to seek minutes beyond the Bernabéu, and while he has made it clear he sees the player as a central striker – and Endrick is unlikely to supersede the likes of Raphinha and Estêvão Willian in Ancelotti’s right-wing pecking order – adaptability is always a useful quality at a World Cup.

Endrick has made it clear he is happy to play wherever Fonseca sees fit; Fonseca has granted his countryman the freedom to cut inside at will. It has the hallmarks of a potentially fruitful partnership, and Endrick has already said Lyon reminds him of Palmeiras, the Brazilian club where he first made his name.

One more reason, perhaps, why he so rapidly found a new home in south-east France.