Endrick has made his choice. The Brazilian forward has opted to join Lyon on loan until the end of the season, with no option to buy. His goal is to play at the World Cup and then return to Real Madrid to have the prominence that has been denied him since his arrival, first with Carlos Ancelotti and then with Xabi Alonso.
At 19 years of age, Endrick is taking a step that could mark his career. In France, he will have the opportunity to prove that he has what it takes to return to Real Madrid and give arguments to those who do not understand why he has had so little space in a team that, in terms of goalscoring, depends so much on Mbappe. But it is also a risk, as the departure of a Real Madrid striker on loan to return home has no precedents to support the Brazilian’s gamble.
The last centre-forwards to leave Madrid on loan to try to prove they could stay in the first team have been homegrown players: Alvaro Rodriguez, Latasa and Borja Mayoral. In none of these cases was there the slightest hint of a return to share the forward line with Benzema or Mbappe.
In the summer of 2019, Madrid sought a great goalscorer from outside Spain after a season of collapse following the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo. The bet was Luka Jovic, signed from Eintracht Frankfurt for 63 million euros. The Serbian never resembled the striker that was sought. Two goals in a season and a half led to a loan spell at Eintracht, from which he returned to play another indifferent campaign before being sold to FiorentinaMariano left Madrid for Lyon on a transfer, with a buy-back clause that the club exercised in the summer of 2018, when Lopetegui arrived. He returned with the label of a goalscorer thanks to his 21 goals and to write a story never seen before at Madrid, although a negative one. Since his return he spent five seasons at the club, played 70 games and scored seven goals.
The Morata case
Raul de Tomas is part of the wide range of goalscorers trained in Real Madrid’s youth academy who went out on loan to earn a return and did so to embark on a path of no return. That pattern seemed to be broken with Morata. The Como striker left for Juventus in 2014 as a European champion. He did so for two years, with a buy-back option that Real Madrid would eventually exercise. He returned and was important in Zidane’s best team, that of 2016-17. He scored 20 goals to win La Liga and the Champions League. But his decision was to leave Real Madrid, this time for good.
In the list of ‘nines’ who left and tried to return are Soldado and Portillo. The Valencian had a great season at Osasuna: 13 goals that opened the doors of the national team with Luis Aragones. He returned to Madrid, but only to be transferred to Getafe. Portillo’s case was that of the explosion of a youth player with a lot of goals, although that was not enough when competing with Ronaldo. It was an impossible task that ended in loans to Fiorentina and Club Brugge before finally separating his path from Real Madrid.
In that long list are forwards such as Aganzo, Congo or Canabal, Urzaiz as well as great goalscorers such as Morientes and Eto’o. The ‘Moro’ was loaned to Monaco in a bad way with the arrival of Ronaldo. He had already made his career at Madrid, with whom he was twice European champion. After a year in the Principality he returned to the white club, but his role was so secondary that in January he ended up signing for Liverpool. Something similar happened with Baptista, who was loaned to Arsenal and then transferred to Roma.
The Cameroonian is one of the great unexplained cases. He never really had a chance at Real Madrid. Loan spells at Leganes, Espanyol and Mallorca ended with a transfer from the island to Barcelona that would end up hurting Los Blancos.
One player who was loaned out only to return and spend three seasons at Madrid was Sebastian Losada. After making his Primera debut on 9 September 1984, against Sporting in a day of strike by the professionals, he left in 1987 on loan to Clemente’s Espanyol, the team that lost the UEFA Cup final against Leverkusen. He returned to Madrid after a great season, but always as a third option, because the forward line was dominated by Butragueno and Hugo Sanchez.
Grosso and Atletico
He may be the great exception. Grosso was on loan for a few months at Atletico Madrid, which served to save the rojiblancos. To say Grosso is to say Madridismo. He made history with Real Madrid, but began to excel in an Atletico side that was heading for Segunda Division and, unable to sign players due to lack of money, asked Madrid for a youngster who was standing out at Plus Ultra, the then-Real Madrid reserve team.
Although they were not convinced at first, Madrid accepted the loan of Grosso, who had already scored 13 goals in 15 games with the reserves. The Madrid player scored on his debut, and with him began a good run for the red and whites that allowed them to achieve salvation, finishing seventh. His return to the Santiago Bernabeu was immediate. So much so that in the same season, 1963-64, he played in the Copa del Rey with Madrid, who were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Atletico: 1-1 and 2-1, with the white goal at the Metropolitano scored by Grosso. He played for Madrid until 1976 and retired with eleven titles: one European Cup, seven LaLiga titles and three Copa del Rey trophies. He was the No.9 of the Yeye Madrid team.
Read the full article here
