Aston Villa favourites to sign Endrick – but Real Madrid star faces a major dilemma

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Robin Bairner | Chief Editor

The future of Real Madrid striker Endrick could lie in the Premier League, with Aston Villa emerging as favourites to sign the Brazil international.

Jose Mourinho persuaded Endrick to remain at the Bernabeu this summer amidst significant interest in the forward, but a combination of injury and internal competition at Real Madrid have severely limited his game time early in the season.

The 20-year-old wants to be playing more regularly, and Real Madrid could therefore sanction a second January loan move, with Aston Villa now seen as the leading option by Cadena SER.

“Endrick has failed to convince Jose Mourinho and is considering his options to leave Real Madrid again in January,” the radio station reports, adding: “He is the last option up front for the Madrid side.”

Roma, who tried to sign him in the summer, remain a legitimate option while a return to Lyon is possible after a loan spell there at the beginning of the year.

But Aston Villa have reportedly targeted Endrick, who could favour a move to Birmingham based on the possibility of playing in the Champions League.

Is Aston Villa the right move for Endrick?

While Champions League football is tempting for Endrick, Aston Villa is not necessarily seen as the best step for his career by data analytics experts SciSports.

It claims that Roma are considerably better set up to get the most out of Endrick, whether that’s as a centre-forward, which is his natural role, or as a right winger.

SciSports’ Career Advice tool rates clubs based on a variety of metrics from development and game time to playing style and formation.

It claims that Endrick would fit excellently into Roma’s system, scoring an incredible 87 as a right winger and a commendable 77 as a centre-forward. The Serie A club ranks first and third among the South American’s options respectively in each of these roles, underlining how good an opportunity it is for him to move to the Italian capital.

By contrast, Aston Villa do not score nearly so highly in either position. The Birmingham club gets a 63 for the right-wing role and 64 as a centre-forward.

In particular, there are concerns flagged that Emery’s system would not get the best from him, while his opportunities to play are forecast to be far fewer in Birmingham than they would in Rome.

This leaves Endrick with an interesting problem: does he chase the bigger move and Champions League football or will he be more patient and make the move that could do most for his career?