Kylian Mbappe's impending Real Madrid move means Endrick must remain at Palmeiras for another year - Brazilian wonderkid cannot risk derailing his incredible development by rotting on the bench

Reports emerged this week that Palmeiras want their star striker to stay until the end of the 2024 campaign - delaying his arrival in Madrid by up to six months. Club president Leila Pereira has already taken steps with the player's representatives, and, according to ESPN, is set to enter discussions with Real Madrid chief scout Juni Calafat. Palmeiras hope that the financial structure of their agreement with Los Blancos will offer valuable leverage in their negotiations - and convince the Liga club to allow the forward to stay.

Should the reigning champions remain in the hunt for silverware, that could keep Endrick in Brazil until December. A Copa Libertadores run - something the Brazilian side can cautiously hope for - would likely delay his arrival until January 2025.

There's previous here. It is, in fact, common practice to delay transfers from South America - not least because of the discrepancy of the football calendar. The Brazilian league runs from March until December, playing through the summer months usually used for the increasingly brief break for the European game.

Most recently, Barcelona did something similar with Vitor Roque, taking on the Brazilian striker in January - even though he was eligible to join the Catalan club in July. Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr, too, arrived on delayed transfers after heavy investment.

Mbappe, meanwhile, is very much on schedule. The Frenchman has, somehow, negotiated a rather clean exit from Paris - despite doing his apparent best to irritate the club hierarchy over the course of the last 18 months. In mid-February, he informed Nasser Al-Khelaifi of his intention to leave this summer, a few weeks after cryptically admitting that he had "an agreement" with the club chairman. Since then, he has reportedly agreed a contract with Real Madrid, accepted what is, by his standards, a cut-rate annual contract to play at the Santiago Bernabeu, and secured one of the biggest signing bonuses in the sport's history.

This is a player who has undergone turnarounds before. He seemed all set to join Los Blancos in May 2022, but famously rejected a miffed Florentino Perez to pen a deal that gave him both immense wealth and unprecedented transfer influence in Paris. You'd be forgiven to be a sceptic until the day that Mbappe kicks a ball in a Madrid kit under the Bernabeu lights.

Still, this seems real enough. Parisian fans have already started to boo Mbappe, while manager Luis Enrique has rotated his squad enough - benching Mbappe after an hour in the Parisians' clash with Rennes last weekend.

Mbappe insisted in September 2022 that he doesn't suit the kind of football Madrid are going to want him to play. In a now-infamous Instagram story, the forward fired a shot at the Parisians' transfer work, criticising his club's failure to sign a central striker for him to operate off. In Madrid, though, it seems the France captain will have to swallow his pride. With Vinicius Jr a fixture on the left wing, and Rodrygo an emerging world-class presence on the right, Mbappe will likely be forced to play through the middle. This could be awkward, a Ballon d'Or-contending footballer asked to change his game - and doing so under the relentless scrutiny that comes with playing in Madrid white.

There's a knock-on effect here that could already destabilise the Madrid system. Most obviously it would mean a change in formation, Los Blancos ditching this year's 4-4-2 diamond and switching to Carlo Ancelotti's preferred 4-3-3. If Mbappe is asked to hold down a central role, Rodrygo, it would seem, has less room to roam. Jude Bellingham, too, will be expected to change his game. After developing into a Ballon d'Or contender as a goalscoring No.10, it figures he'll be pushed further back into a box-to-box role.

It's an inherently unstable environment for a youngster to stumble into. Although Endrick is a versatile attacking presence, he operates most effectively on either wing - Madrid's deepest positions. And if the goal here is to play as much as possible, and cut his teeth in elite competition, then a turbulent system doesn't appear to be the best format to do so.

In October 2020, a microphone picked up a conversation between Karim Benzema and Ferland Mendy during half-time of Real Madrid's Champions League clash with Borussia Monchengladbach. In the brief clip, Benzema aired his grievances about playing with a then-19-year-old Vinicius.

"Brother don’t play to him. On my mother’s life. He is playing against us," he told the French full-back. Benzema didn't pass to Vinicius once in the second half of the game.

His complaints served as a microcosm of the difficulties foreign, specifically Brazilian, talents have found in Europe. For his first years in Spain - both for Madrid's B team and senior side - Vinicius was considered an expensive flop. Too flashy on the ball, and not clinical enough in key areas - the mercurial winger was branded the perfect example of a player with too much "samba" and not enough substance.

He has, of course, since turned things around, and is now regarded as one of the best in the world - and perhaps a future Ballon d'Or winner.

But others haven't been so fortunate. Reinier is still technically property of Real Madrid, and is on his third loan since making a big-money move from Flamengo in 2020. Kenedy, now of Real Valladolid, was an immensely-hyped prospect when he moved to Chelsea. Gabriel Barbosa, Lucas Piazon, Jo and Denilson all suffered the same fate. Endrick is more talented than all of them but past struggles suggest it could still go very wrong if he makes the move too soon.

There also remains the point that Endrick was just beginning to find his best towards the end of the 2023 season. It was a tricky nine months for the teenager, who failed to crack the Palmeiras XI at first, suffered two lengthy goal droughts, and often buckled under the immense pressure of being compared to Pele. But towards the end of the season - when Palmeiras' title charge clicked into gear - the Brazilian was vital. He ended the campaign with 11 Serie A goals, including four in 11 days that propelled the champions back towards the top of the table.

Being in his native country also helped his stock rise for the Brazilian national side. Fernando Diniz called him up for two World Cup qualifiers in November - and was widely criticised for not unleashing the teenager as the Selecao attack stuttered.

Endrick cannot live in anonymity at home. He is, in many ways, the poster boy of Brazilian football - the next big hope. But the global fame of Madrid is different. And if being benched for Palmeiras was tough, doing so for Madrid will be near-impossible. Staying in his native country, where he can continue to develop - and arrive in Spain a more complete player - might not be the worst idea.

Perhaps this all makes sense for Los Blancos, too. Although Ancelotti's side are presumptive favourites to win La Liga, and are very much in the mix for the Champions League once again, it could be an uneasy 18 months. A new era is beginning in Madrid - with Ancelotti signing on until 2026 to refine what could be another top European side but in the meantime, things look uncertain. The pending departure of Luka Modric will leave Los Blancos with questions to answer in midfield - as well as a massive leader to replace in the dressing room.

And although the influx of talent - Mbappe and perhaps Alphonso Davies - is enticing, Madrid remains a high pressure, reasonably turbulent place to walk into. Ancelotti will have enough to worry about in configuring his starting XI - never mind the burden of bedding in a top talent with occasional minutes.

Endrick, undoubtedly, will want to prove himself at the top level - that's why he signed for the club in the first place but the next 12 months might not offer the best chance for him to grow into the side. Madrid might be the realisation of his footballing dreams, but putting a move on hold might just end up being a shrewd decision - and eventually turn a promising talent into an elite one.