By Fernando Kallas
MADRID (Reuters) – Real Madrid’s Brazilian teenage soccer sensation Endrick signed a multi-year sponsorship deal on Tuesday with Austrian energy drinks maker Red Bull.
Thiago Freitas, COO of Roc Nation Sports in Brazil, the agency owned by rapper Jay-Z that represents and manages Endrick’s career, said that the 18-year-old Brazil international will be a brand ambassador for the company.
The striker adds the deal to a partnership roster that includes brands like Disney, New Balance and Panini.
“I was thrilled when I received their invitation and we met soon after to talk about what we could do together,” Endrick, who last week was unveiled as Real’s latest player, told Reuters on Monday.
“Red Bull was already part of my day-to-day life and I’m very happy to be part of this team, which includes several athletes I admire a lot. To be able to be part of this family, in football, is to bring together everything I like.”
Real Madrid paid over 60 million euros ($64.91 million) to sign Endrick at 16 from Sao Paulo-based Palmeiras in 2022, but he had to wait almost two years until he turned 18 to join the Spanish giants due to FIFA regulations on underage players.
From the impoverished slums of the capital Brasilia, Endrick has turned from a prospect into a sensation, leading Palmeiras to a record-extending 12th Brazilian league title and becoming Brazil’s youngest international since the great Pele in 1957.
Endrick also in March became the youngest player to score in an international game at Wembley, with his goal giving Brazil a 1-0 victory over England that ended the home side’s 21-game unbeaten streak at the national stadium.
“(The Red Bull deal) will focus on drawing and engaging new and existing audiences through multimedia storytelling about Endrick’s life path, with is an extraordinary one,” Fabio Wolff, managing partner of Wolff Sports, who negotiated the deal, told Reuters.
Endrick is the second Brazilian footballer to sign a sponsorship with Red Bull after Al Hilal’s Neymar Jr.
The Austrian energy drink company also sponsors Liverpool and England defender Trent Alexander-Arnold as well as Brazilian athletes like Olympic and world surfing champion Italo Ferreira and six-times X-Games skateboarding champion Leticia Bufoni.
($1 = 0.9243 euros)
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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