Chelsea 'backed out of signing Real Madrid-bound Endrick'

Endrick would have likely signed for Chelsea rather than Real Madrid had the Premier League giants not pulled out of the deal, according to the player's father.

The Brazilian teenager has been regarded as one of the world's top prospects for some time having already established himself as a key part of Palmeiras' first-team squad.

A total of 17 goals and two assists have been contributed from just 60 appearances, but the 17-year-old's future is at Real Madrid.

In December last year, Los Blancos successfully negotiated a deal that could eventually reach €72m to sign Endrick once he turns 18 in July 2024.

At the time, it was known that Real Madrid officials had outgunned a number of other teams to win the race for the versatile attacker's signature.

However, it appears that Chelsea had initially been in front of Real before co-owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital had second thoughts over spending such an amount of money on a player who was then 16 years old.

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Douglas, Endrick's father, told The Guardian: "I have to admit I do not like the cold but my wife and Endrick do. Endrick really likes playing in the rain.

"So we received an invitation from Chelsea, from the owner, and we went there to see the club and the country. We watched Chelsea play Arsenal and we got to see the coach, the facilities, Jorginho, Cesar Azpilicueta and Thiago Silva.

"They explained everything to us. They introduced us to the person who would help us settle in. She showed us the house we would live in, the school Endrick would go to, the church we would attend. Everything was right with us and Chelsea.

"I can't say 100% because I hadn't signed, but the deal was agreed. I had already got it into my head that I would live in London with all that cold weather.

"But then at night, my son's manager phoned and said that the Chelsea owner had backed out of the deal because the price they would have to pay for Endrick would inflate the market. It was €60m (£51m/$64m) for a 16-year-old boy who would only arrive in the country almost two years later."

Despite that alleged reluctance to spend big on Endrick, Boehly and Clearlake have since paid in the region of £45m to acquire young Brazilian trio Andrey Santos, Angelo and Deivid Washington.

Santos is out of favour on loan at Nottingham Forest, Angelo is earning regular game time at Strasbourg and Washington has made just one brief substitute outing for Chelsea in the Premier League.