Jose Mourinho Ready to Give Real Madrid Youngster Endrick More Gametime

When Real Madrid came back in dramatic fashion - even for the club’s standards - to defeat AS Roma 4-3 in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night, the credit largely went to the substitutes— the promising trio of Arda Guler, Carlos Espi and Endrick especially.

The one who perhaps stood out the most of those three was the young Brazilian. The second goal came from the rebound of his header on goal, before he himself headed home the equaliser just a couple of minutes later.

Despite talk of a loan move during the summer transfer window, Endrick stayed at Real Madrid for at least the first half of this season. So far, his patience has not been rewarded, with just 41 minutes played across all competitions. He played more than that for Brazil during the recent international break.

However, perhaps that could change. Spanish journalist, Rodra (as relayed by MadridXtra) has reported that Jose Mourinho plans to give the 20 year old “more playing time” in the upcoming games.

Perhaps this comes as a direct consequence of the four game suspension handed out to Vinicius by La Liga, where he will miss the clashes with Sevilla (home), as well as Barcelona, Racing Club and Valencia (away).

Although Endrick is not a left winger himself, the suspension of Vinicius could mean Mourinho tries deploying Yan Diomande off the left hand side - like against Villarreal - with Endrick off the right hand side.

However, there is Guler in that position, who has probably been Real Madrid’s best player so far this season, and as touched on earlier, was instrumental in the win from behind against Roma.

So, alternatively— we could see Kylian Mbappe play off the left hand side, as he so often did earlier in his career and for France in their first game under Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane last month, with Endrick then leading the line. A penny for Carlos Espi’s thoughts if that was to happen, mind you. Read here for more on how Mourinho may set up without Vinicius.

Well, let’s see. You certainly can’t argue that the Brazilian international does deserve his long awaited ‘crack of the whip’. Till now, he has still played more minutes for Lyon than Real Madrid, despite being in France for nearly two years fewer than the Spanish capital. A very damning statistic, and one that surely has to change very soon if he is going to be a success at the club.