Mourinho Shuts Down Endrick Exit Talk: "Forget It, They'd Better Not Hold Their Breath"

Roma and Milan had already started dreaming about landing Endrick on loan in January. Mourinho shot that down without a second thought.

The Real Madrid coach addressed the supposed interest from several Italian clubs in taking the Brazilian forward on loan during an interview with TNT Sports ahead of the Champions League league phase clash against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico. He left no room for doubt:

Forget it, forget it. They'd better not hold their breath, so they don't wear themselves out. He's a player I adore, he has incredible potential. He's very important for us. Whoever's interested in him is going to have to fight me hard for it, because I think he's going to be very successful.Jose Mourinho

The number behind all this noise over a possible exit tells the story: Endrick has played just 4 minutes so far this season, across all competitions. Sources indicate Milan and Roma itself were among the clubs exploring a possible loan in the upcoming January window. Mourinho went further, putting the young striker's start to the year in context, pointing to an injury that sidelined him for several weeks.

After preseason he suffered an injury that kept him out for more than a month from the start of the season. It's true that once he recovered, he still hasn't had the chance to play.Jose Mourinho

Internal competition isn't helping his case either. The emergence of Carlos Espi, who has racked up minutes and performances off the bench to the point of earning his first call-up to the Spain national team, has made things even tougher for Endrick as he looks to carve out a role in the first team.

Backing Vinicius

In the same interview, Mourinho also addressed Vinicius Junior's current form, with the Brazilian managing just one goal and three assists in 9 matches so far this season. Far from showing concern, the coach chose to stay optimistic.

He's going to come through, it's just a matter of time. After the last match I decided to do things differently, protect him a bit more and then bring him on when the game needs a player like Vini. I think that worked well: the stadium, which sometimes shows its disapproval, immediately got behind him the moment he started warming up.Jose Mourinho

That's a reference to the match against Villarreal, which ended in the worst possible way for the Brazilian: a disallowed goal and a red card included. Even so, Mourinho chose to focus on the positives from that night.

I think it was a turning point for him. He came on and played very well, obviously the disallowed goal and the red card were a shame, but something seemed to click for him, he got his joy back and it reminded him of the kind of player he is.Jose Mourinho

Between a young player he has no intention of letting go and a winger he's trying to restore confidence in, Mourinho made clear where his message is headed from here: patience for his own, closed doors for everyone else.