Why Carlo Ancelotti’s Latest Endrick Comments Are Laced With Irony

Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti has stressed the need for young talents like Endrick to play regular minutes in order to develop.

The 20-year-old has been included as part of Ancelotti’s roster for the September-October international break, but was highlighted by the boss as an example of a player who needs to “progress.”

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the Seleção’s friendlies against Australia and India, Ancelotti used Endrick as an example of Brazilian youngsters going to Europe too early and finding their on-field opportunities limited.

“The problem for Brazilian boys is that they do not improve because they do not play,” the manager said. “It is happening to Endrick, but also to other talents such as Estêvão: they go to Europe at 18 or 19, they arrive at big clubs and do not find space.

“Without playing they cannot progress. We have very promising young players and we have to follow their development,”

He added, more hopefully: “Endrick will become an important player for the national team in the future."

Endrick’s Difficult Time in Europe

Kylian Mbappé, Endrick — Endrick (right) has had to scrap for minutes behind Kylian Mbappé. | Alberto Gardin/NurPhoto/Getty Images

The Endrick situation has been the subject of much debate for both Brazil and Real Madrid fans since the youngster’s move to Spain, upon turning 18 in the summer of 2024.

Madrid paid big to sign one of South America’s hottest attacking talents—as much as €60 million ($68.75 million) including add-ons—and made Endrick part of their first-team squad.

The forward, who had drawn lofty comparisons to Ronaldo—R9—and even Pelé in his home country, struggled in his first season at the Bernabéu.

In 2025–26, he found his game time further limited under Xabi Alonso and was sent out on loan to Lyon, where he impressed enough to make the cut for Brazil’s World Cup roster.

This season, the arrival of new signings like Yan Diomande and Carlos Espí along with new manager José Mourinho have pushed Endrick further out of the picture, and he has made just one substitute appearance in 2026–27 to date.

Why Ancelotti Is Partially to Blame

Carlo Ancelotti was Endrick’s manager at Real Madrid in 2024–25. | ANP/Getty Images

Ancelotti’s assessment that Endrick and his Brazilian contemporaries need more game time is correct, but it does overlook the part he himself has played in the forward’s lack of opportunities.

Working under then-manager Ancelotti, Endrick played just 352 minutes in La Liga, starting just three times for Real Madrid in 2024–25—despite impressing in the Copa del Rey, with five goals in six appearances.

Ancelotti’s use of Endrick became a point of contention again at the 2026 World Cup, with the manager apparently reluctant to call upon the youngster despite Brazil’s dysfunction in attack.

Endrick was not used at all in Brazil’s opener against Morocco and then made 26-minute and eight-minute cameos off the bench against Haiti and Scotland.

Such was Endrick’s lack of involvement—despite public clamor—that a meme sensation arose from the situation, with social media users flooding feeds with up infinitely creative ways in which Ancelotti could ruin the player’s hopes and dreams.

Endrick ultimately did not start any World Cup match, but helped change the tide in a second-half cameo against Japan in the round of 32, before featuring off the bench again during Brazil’s round of 16 exit to Norway.

What Next for Endrick?

Opportunities for Real Madrid look to be few and far between again this season.

Some had predicted that the former Palmeiras star would get more minutes out wide on the right—a role he performed to some distinction for Lyon last season—but this has yet to occur, with Arda Güler, Yan Diomande and Brahim Díaz all, seemingly, ahead of him in the pecking order.

He remains a coveted young prospect and was linked with several Premier League sides in the final days of the summer transfer window.

Looking ahead, Serie A sides including AC Milan and Roma are reportedly monitoring the forward ahead of another loan move in January.

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