Roma Target Endrick on Loan as Madrid Congestion Forces Mourinho’s Hand

AS Roma are closely monitoring the situation of Endrick at Real Madrid and have identified the 19-year-old Brazilian as a primary target for a loan move this summer, with La Gazzetta dello Sport reporting that Roma’s sporting director has already travelled to Madrid to assess the feasibility of a deal.

The Giallorossi are pushing for a loan structure that includes an option to buy – a mechanism modelled closely on the arrangement that brought Nico Paz to Como – as the only financially viable route to securing a player whose registration remains firmly held by Los Blancos.

The complication that gives this story its particular texture is the figure standing at the centre of it: José Mourinho, now managing Real Madrid, is yet to deliver a definitive verdict on Endrick’s place in his plans, and it is precisely that uncertainty that has created the opening Roma are moving to exploit.

Mourinho’s exit from the Giallorossi in 2024 – acrimonious, public, and punctuated by direct criticism of owner Dan Friedkin – means any deal involving goodwill between the two clubs carries a political charge that purely sporting transactions rarely attract.

Mourinho, Endrick & the Madrid Dynamic That Has Created an Opening

The structural reality at the Santiago Bernabéu is one of severe attacking congestion.

Endrick returns from a loan spell at Olympique Lyon to find a forward line comprising Kylian Mbappé, Vinicius Jr, Brahim Díaz, and Rodrygo already ahead of him in Mourinho’s tactical thinking, with academy forward Gonzalo García and new signing Carlos Espi – who impressed on debut against Fiorentina this pre-season – further complicating the picture.

Per the primary reporting from Gazzetta dello Sport, Endrick’s profile does not align neatly with what Mourinho wants from his attacking options – the Portuguese coach having sought a more physically dominant presence to serve as Mbappé’s primary backup, a specification Espi appears to satisfy more naturally.

Mourinho is expected to conduct a formal evaluation of Endrick in the coming days of pre-season, a process that will carry decisive weight for the player’s immediate future. His goal against Fiorentina in a recent friendly provides a data point in his favour, but a single friendly intervention will not be sufficient on its own to overturn what appears to be a structural incompatibility between his profile and Mourinho’s preferred attacking blueprint.

Endrick himself is understood to prefer remaining at Madrid and competing for minutes – a position that is entirely understandable given the ambition that brought him to Europe – but the conditions around him are closing in ways that make a second successive loan an increasingly probable outcome if Mourinho’s evaluation does not resolve emphatically in his favour.

Endrick & the Profile That Maps Onto Gasperini’s System

At 19, Endrick represents the kind of asset Roma have rarely been positioned to pursue – a player of verifiable elite pedigree, contracted to one of the three or four most powerful clubs in world football, temporarily available because of circumstances rather than diminished value.

His time at Lyon demonstrated an ability to function as a regular starter in a competitive European league, and while the 2026 World Cup – where he featured across multiple matches for Brazil without the tournament impact he would have hoped for – did not elevate his profile further, it confirmed his standing as a senior international of genuine consequence.

What makes him specifically interesting to Roma under Gian Piero Gasperini is versatility rather than pure goal-scoring output. Gasperini views Endrick not as a fixed central striker but as a player capable of operating across the front line – a profile that fits the high-tempo, positionally fluid attacking system the coach has built throughout his career.

Roma’s interest is not simply opportunistic; it addresses a genuine structural need in a squad that, per multiple Italian reports, is likely to lose Artem Dovbyk and requires a forward capable of attacking depth from multiple positions. Roma have been active and purposeful in this window across several fronts – their pursuit of wide attacking reinforcements underlines the breadth of Gasperini’s rebuild – and Endrick would represent the marquee addition in that attacking renovation.

Roma’s Position – The Sporting Logic Behind the Pursuit

The loan-plus-option structure Roma are proposing is not accidental – it is the only architecture that makes sense given the financial constraints governing the Giallorossi’s summer and the premium Real Madrid would attach to any permanent transfer of a player contracted until 2030.

The Nico Paz precedent at Como established that Serie A clubs can conclude sophisticated structured deals with Madrid involving significant option clauses, and Roma, operating at a different scale to Como, are using that template as the basis for their approach.

Gasperini’s sporting director has already invested real time and travel in gauging Madrid’s receptiveness, which signals that this is not a speculative inquiry but a prepared approach ready to accelerate if the conditions align.

Roma’s broader summer – which has included moves across multiple attacking positions as the Giallorossi reshape Gasperini’s front line – has the coherence of a club with a clear plan, and Endrick fits that plan with unusual precision.

Real Madrid’s Position – What the Bernabéu Needs From Any Deal

Real Madrid are not, at present, open to negotiations – a position Goal report makes clear, noting that Roma officials’ Madrid visit has not yet produced meaningful dialogue from the Spanish side. The logic behind Madrid’s reluctance is straightforward: Endrick is a long-term asset under contract until 2030, acquired from Palmeiras in a deal worth significant capital, and any structured loan with an option to buy introduces the risk of losing developmental control over a player they still believe will eventually justify the investment.

The only condition under which Madrid are expected to soften that position is a clear signal from Mourinho that Endrick cannot be guaranteed sufficient minutes – at which point the club’s calculus shifts from retention to managed development, and a loan with defined terms becomes preferable to a season in which a 19-year-old of Endrick’s ability sits largely unused. That signal has not yet arrived.

What Happens Next

Whether Mourinho’s internal evaluation over the coming pre-season weeks produces a verdict that opens the door – or whether Endrick’s own competitive instincts convince the coach to retain him as a versatile option across the forward line – will determine whether Roma’s approach crystallises into a formal bid or quietly dissolves.

The Mourinho–Friedkin dimension adds a layer of complexity that purely sporting deals do not carry: any loan-plus-option structure requires a degree of institutional trust between the two clubs that the Portuguese coach’s acrimonious 2024 departure from the Olimpico has not left in abundance.

Roma are ready. Madrid are waiting. Mourinho holds the key – and he has not yet decided which door to open.