Endrick joined Lyon on loan in January after a frustrating first 18 months in Spain, where he scored just once in La Liga and was unable to displace Kylian Mbappé or Gonzalo García under Xabi Alonso. The move to France has transformed his fortunes — he scored on his Ligue 1 debut and has contributed four goals and six assists in 12 appearances for Lyon.
Arsenal are monitoring his situation as they look to add a striker to Mikel Arteta's squad this summer. Viktor Gyökeres has divided opinion since joining the club, and with Gabriel Jesus expected to leave and question marks around the futures of Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli, Arteta is in the market for a versatile forward.
However, Real Madrid have delivered a firm response. According to multiple reports, Florentino Pérez's club has no intention of sanctioning a permanent departure and plans to integrate Endrick into the first-team squad for the 2026-27 season regardless of who takes over as manager.
The player's father, Douglas Sousa, has spoken publicly about his son's difficult time in Madrid.
"At Madrid, in a sense, they took his playground away from him," Sousa said. "All he wants is to play football. Now he's found happiness again. My daughter-in-law was instrumental in his decision to go to Lyon — he's happy and so are all of us."
Endrick's contract with Real Madrid runs until 2030, and no buy clause was attached to the Lyon loan. Arsenal plan to submit a formal offer in the coming months, though Real Madrid's position would need to shift significantly for any deal to have a chance of progressing.