In an endothermic reaction, the system absorbs heat from its surroundings. As a result, the energy needed to break bonds in the reactants is greater than the energy released when forming bonds in the products.
Therefore, the statement that must be true is:
More energy is needed to form the bonds on the product side than to form the bonds on the reactant side.
This reflects the fact that in endothermic reactions, the total energy of the products is greater than that of the reactants due to the absorbed energy.