Marcus Edwards was compared to Messi but is now thriving in Portugal
Marcus Edwards was compared to Lionel Messi by Mauricio Pochettino but played just 15 MINUTES for Tottenham… the explosive winger has relaunched his career abroad and is now set to take on Man City after signing for Sporting Lisbon
- Marcus Edwards was regarded as one of Tottenham’s brightest prospects
- That only enhanced when Pochettino compared his playing style to Lionel Messi
- But Edwards would only play one match for Tottenham in the EFL Cup
- There were issues with his discipline but he revived his career in the Eredivisie
- The tricky and quick winger then took a move to Vitoria Guimaraes in Portugal
- After thriving there, the 23-year-old has just signed for Sporting Lisbon
‘His qualities… it’s only looks – his body and the way that he plays – remember a little bit from the beginning of Messi.’ – Mauricio Pochettino on Marcus Edwards, September 20, 2016.
Imagine being a 17-year-old and hearing your manager has just mentioned you in the same breath as one of the greatest footballers of all-time. You’d feel 10 feet tall.
But then it would dawn on you that nobody is going to remember that Pochettino only meant the comparison in terms of comparing playing styles at first glance.
The Argentine wasn’t predicting that Edwards was definitely going to be the next Messi, merely that they shared certain traits.
Marcus Edwards (centre) was considered one of the most exciting talents in the Tottenham Hotspur academy when a teenager – it didn’t work out but the winger is now at Sporting Lisbon
Edwards has just signed for Portuguese giants Sporting after two-and-a-half seasons at Vitoria
But by the time those comments had gone through the spin cycle of media and supporter hyperbole, an intense pressure of expectation had been loaded onto the youngster’s shoulders.
For Edwards, who made his senior Tottenham debut against Gillingham in the EFL Cup the following day, Pochettino’s slightly clumsy compliment haunted him for quite a long time.
Ultimately he moved abroad to escape the label and escape his comfort zone. Pochettino later admitted his regret at drawing those parallels.
At 17, Messi was making his breakthrough in the Barcelona team, the beginning of an unstoppable rise to legendary status. For the vast majority of players, it doesn’t work out like that.
But five-and-a-half years later, Edwards is doing well. Now 23, he has just left Vitoria Guimaraes to sign for one of Portugal’s biggest clubs in Sporting Lisbon. The transfer fee was reported to be around £7million.
Edwards celebrates scoring for Vitoria against Arsenal in the UEFA Europa League in 2019
The winger (left) has performed well for Vitoria after making the call to leave Tottenham
The winger had scored eight goals and contributed four assists for Vitoria in the first half of the season.
Those numbers will almost certainly be boosted if he plays regularly at Sporting, who are scrambling to keep pace with Porto at the top of the Primeira Liga.
Even more excitingly, Sporting are about to play Manchester City in the last-16 of the Champions League. If he impresses, Edwards will return to the consciousness of English football fans.
Quick, tricky and agile, he has gained a reputation as a nightmare for defenders in the Portuguese top-flight.
Stephy Mavididi, formerly of Arsenal and now with Montpellier, who played alongside Edwards in the England youth ranks, said recently: ‘He’s one of the top three best players I’ve played against. I haven’t seen anyone better live in front of my eyes.
‘In the pockets, little nutmegs and stuff, the guy’s a joke man!
Mauricio Pochettino (left) compared the playing style of Edwards to that of Lionel Messi (right) when he was a teenager in Tottenham’s academy
‘He’s putting up good numbers in Portugal and proving he can play at a higher level. It’s up to the world to see that now.’
In a perfect world. Edwards would be an established player at his boyhood club Spurs, listening to fans sing ‘he’s one of our own’ as they do to Harry Kane.
Funnily enough, his nickname within the club at the time of Pochettino’s comments was ‘Mini Messi’ and that 15-minute cameo against Gillingham was meant to be the first of many.
Unfortunately, it proved to be his one and only Spurs appearance.
Edwards suffered an ankle injury the following month which required surgery and he lost six months at a point when he might have been able to force his way into the team.
Edwards replaces Vincent Janssen for his senior Tottenham debut against Gillingham in 2016
The winger, then 17, gets a shot off during his debut against Gillingham, a 5-0 Spurs victory
In the summer of 2017, he was part of the England Under 19 squad that won the European Championship and signed a new three-year contract at Spurs, though that had been delayed because of disputes in the negotiations that didn’t do him any favours.
Game time was now going to be key but a loan move to Championship club Norwich in January 2018 didn’t work out.
Norwich boss Daniel Farke said Edwards had to ‘grow up a bit’ in order to prosper and in the end he played just six minutes of football for the Canaries.
Edwards later said he was struggling with a back injury at the time, which meant he wasn’t able to give his best effort in training, which perhaps led to Farke’s blast.
But a second loan spell, at the Dutch club Excelsior Rotterdam, in 2018-19 proved far more successful.
After overcoming an ankle injury, Edwards signed for Norwich City on loan in January 2018
But he would play just one match, with manager Daniel Farke telling him to ‘grow up’
Although the club were languishing at the wrong end of the Eredivisie, Edwards prospered and contributed two goals and four assists.
At the end of the season, he led the Eredivisie standings for dribbles per game, with an average of 3.3, which was more than the 3.2 of PSV’s Steven Bergwijn, a player Spurs signed six months later.
Enfield-born Edwards admitted to feeling homesick in Holland at first but the year abroad was successful in turning a player Pochettino would describe as having ‘authority and behavioural problems’ in his book ‘Brave New World’ into a more professional footballer.
The positive time spent overseas, plus the example of other young English players prospering in Europe such as Jadon Sancho, meant Edwards needed little convincing to sign for Vitoria in 2019.
Edwards got his career back on track with a move abroad, a loan with Dutch club Excelsior
He told the i newspaper in 2020: ‘I think it makes you grow up quicker – leaving where you’re comfortable, with your friends and family at home.
‘It makes you solely focus on football…. You live and breathe football, there’s nothing else.’
His first season with Vitoria saw nine goals and nine assists, including one at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal in the Europa League – an especially satisfying moment for a Spurs fan, as shown by his enthusiastic celebration.
A young footballer who idolised the likes of Neymar, Ronaldinho and Zinedine Zidane has been able to pull off similar tricks and have a game-changing influence.
He had little hesitation accepting a move to Vitoria in 2019 and is seen here taking on Arsenal’s Kieran Tierney during a Europa League encounter
In January 2021, Edwards was linked with a return to England with West Ham but instead he signed a contract with Vitoria until 2024 with a £45m release clause.
It seems that was to deter suitors from abroad but it hasn’t put off Sporting from swooping to sign one of the league’s best talents.
Edwards has said in interviews he doesn’t want to ‘dwell’ on what might have been at Spurs and why would he?
With the prime years of his career yet to come, Sporting look to have a real gem.
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