Player Watch: Marcus Edwards

[mr ashley]

I seem to remember we waived any % from his sale to Sporting so that the deal could get done, and we now have a larger % of any future sale (off top of my head thought it was as much as 50%). Can anyone confirm ??

Does that mean we could buy him for half price?

 

[Marty]

Does that mean we could buy him for half price?

Essentially, yes.

 

[Blake Griffin]

Sad that he moved on as he looked great even on the few clips i had seen. Does anybody know what broke down and why he had to move

he wanted to play football but he also lacked maturity at that point(just like most 19/20-year-olds) so he wasn't the easiest to deal with. fans tarred him with the brush of being a billy big bollocks but actually he's always been very quiet and introverted, which can also come across as aloof and moody. i still stand by what i said at the time though in that poch didn't handle him very well. he already had a lot of attention and hype but poch dumped a whole load more onto him by publicly likening him to messi when he was just 17. shortly after he picked up a bad injury and missed 3-4 months, when he came back he was probably expecting to pick up from where he left off but no opportunities were forthcoming and i imagine this is when the relationship with poch went a bit sour. i don't blame poch for this and looking back, clearly marcus wasn't ready and i can imagine it was his own behaviour that caused it but you have to remember that you're still dealing with a child at this point. marcus had gone from being with the first team and having his manager compare him to messi to then being dumped back down into the u23s.

the following pre-season poch took a load of youth players on tour ahead of edwards, none of which were anywhere near the level of talent that he was. clearly this was done to show him that he needed act more professional if he's to get back in. he actually started that season on fire for the youth sides and seemed to have gotten his head down but still wasn't back with the first team whilst others who were playing in the same side as him(and not performing anywhere near as well) were. poch's book then released and in there was a segment that didn't paint edwards in a great light, personally this is where i think poch crossed the line and i even remember troy townsend(andros' dad) saying how he'd be upset if a manager spoke of andros that way when he was still just a kid. after that marcus got what we thought would be his big break with a loan to norwich but he totally ballsed it up by turning up late all the time and not showing the required professionalism of a footballer at the top level - which completely vindicated what poch had previously said.

another pre-season tour passes in which he doesn't feature. he then goes on loan to excelsior in holland. the move away seemed to do him good and by all accounts there were no disciplinary problems, he didn't exactly tear it up over there but he was playing regularly and there were a few bright performances that showed he had something. overall it was a bit of an underwhelming loan in terms of what he showed on the pitch but it seemed to do a lot for him off it. he came back and we were all speculating whether he'd get another chance but the squad for the tour gets announced and he's not in it. clearly by that point there was no way back for him, at least while poch was here(funnily enough poch only lasted a few more months) and edwards was sold to vitoria in portugal, well i say sold, it was actually a free but with a 50% sell on clause.

he spent 2.5 years at vitoria. the first season was a very promising one from him but he followed it up with a disappointing 2nd(as did the team in general). he really stepped it up again though in the first half of the 3rd season, so much so that sporting signed him. vitoria wanted €15m knowing that they'd only get €7.5m, sporting didn't want to pay that so in the end we elected to keep our 50% share so sporting only paid €7.5m, vitoria got the money they wanted and edwards got his move. it was a calculated decision on spurs' part as there's no guarantee that they'll even see a penny from it but i guess they've gambled on the possibility of sporting selling him in the future for a much larger fee.

he's started really well there, i watched their earlier games this season and it really struck me how much he's kicked on. he looks stronger, quicker, sharper and his off the ball movement is vastly improved(before he only ever wanted the ball to feet so he can dribble at players but now he's learnt that you can do just as much damage off the ball as you can on it). someone said in the youth thread "he's nearly 24" which i took as them implying it's too late for him now to make it "big" and so what he's doing now isn't anything impressive but i don't go along with that. development isn't a linear process and there are many examples of players really hitting their stride into their mid 20s or even later, not everyone who makes it to a high level has been tearing it up since their teens. luis diaz looks a great player for liverpool but it took him until he was 23/24 until he started to shine for porto, mahrez was a relative nobody until he was 25 or so. marcus has always been behind physically so it's understandable it's going to take him longer, i don't know if he can really hit the heights of those two examples but i wouldn't totally rule it out. likewise you have the other side of the coin with players who come roaring onto the scene only to then fizzle out into obscurity later on - hi dele ?

he's still by some distance the most talented player i've seen come through the academy, i know that talent is only half of the equation but players with his ability don't come around all that often and it would be a massive shame to me if that talent ends up shining elsewhere rather than with us. it's going to feel kind of surreal seeing him line up against us next week. obviously i hope we demolish them but i won't lie and say that i don't want to see him do well too.

 

[DJS]

he wanted to play football but he also lacked maturity at that point(just like most 19/20-year-olds) so he wasn't the easiest to deal with. fans tarred him with the brush of being a billy big bollocks but actually he's always been very quiet and introverted, which can also come across as aloof and moody. i still stand by what i said at the time though in that poch didn't handle him very well. he already had a lot of attention and hype but poch dumped a whole load more onto him by publicly likening him to messi when he was just 17. shortly after he picked up a bad injury and missed 3-4 months, when he came back he was probably expecting to pick up from where he left off but no opportunities were forthcoming and i imagine this is when the relationship with poch went a bit sour. i don't blame poch for this and looking back, clearly marcus wasn't ready and i can imagine it was his own behaviour that caused it but you have to remember that you're still dealing with a child at this point. marcus had gone from being with the first team and having his manager compare him to messi to then being dumped back down into the u23s.

the following pre-season poch took a load of youth players on tour ahead of edwards, none of which were anywhere near the level of talent that he was. clearly this was done to show him that he needed act more professional if he's to get back in. he actually started that season on fire for the youth sides and seemed to have gotten his head down but still wasn't back with the first team whilst others who were playing in the same side as him(and not performing anywhere near as well) were. poch's book then released and in there was a segment that didn't paint edwards in a great light, personally this is where i think poch crossed the line and i even remember troy townsend(andros' dad) saying how he'd be upset if a manager spoke of andros that way when he was still just a kid. after that marcus got what we thought would be his big break with a loan to norwich but he totally ballsed it up by turning up late all the time and not showing the required professionalism of a footballer at the top level - which completely vindicated what poch had previously said.

another pre-season tour passes in which he doesn't feature. he then goes on loan to excelsior in holland. the move away seemed to do him good and by all accounts there were no disciplinary problems, he didn't exactly tear it up over there but he was playing regularly and there were a few bright performances that showed he had something. overall it was a bit of an underwhelming loan in terms of what he showed on the pitch but it seemed to do a lot for him off it. he came back and we were all speculating whether he'd get another chance but the squad for the tour gets announced and he's not in it. clearly by that point there was no way back for him, at least while poch was here(funnily enough poch only lasted a few more months) and edwards was sold to vitoria in portugal, well i say sold, it was actually a free but with a 50% sell on clause.

he spent 2.5 years at vitoria. the first season was a very promising one from him but he followed it up with a disappointing 2nd(as did the team in general). he really stepped it up again though in the first half of the 3rd season, so much so that sporting signed him. vitoria wanted €15m knowing that they'd only get €7.5m, sporting didn't want to pay that so in the end we elected to keep our 50% share so sporting only paid €7.5m, vitoria got the money they wanted and edwards got his move. it was a calculated decision on spurs' part as there's no guarantee that they'll even see a penny from it but i guess they've gambled on the possibility of sporting selling him in the future for a much larger fee.

he's started really well there, i watched their earlier games this season and it really struck me how much he's kicked on. he looks stronger, quicker, sharper and his off the ball movement is vastly improved(before he only ever wanted the ball to feet so he can dribble at players but now he's learnt that you can do just as much damage off the ball as you can on it). someone said in the youth thread "he's nearly 24" which i took as them implying it's too late for him now to make it "big" and so what he's doing now isn't anything impressive but i don't go along with that. development isn't a linear process and there are many examples of players really hitting their stride into their mid 20s or even later, not everyone who makes it to a high level has been tearing it up since their teens. luis diaz looks a great player for liverpool but it took him until he was 23/24 until he started to shine for porto, mahrez was a relative nobody until he was 25 or so. marcus has always been behind physically so it's understandable it's going to take him longer, i don't know if he can really hit the heights of those two examples but i wouldn't totally rule it out. likewise you have the other side of the coin with players who come roaring onto the scene only to then fizzle out into obscurity later on - hi dele ?

he's still by some distance the most talented player i've seen come through the academy, i know that talent is only half of the equation but players with his ability don't come around all that often and it would be a massive shame to me if that talent ends up shining elsewhere rather than with us. it's going to feel kind of surreal seeing him line up against us next week. obviously i hope we demolish them but i won't lie and say that i don't want to see him do well too.

I still can’t believe Poch did that book.

It is never a good idea whilst still in the job.

 

[Cochise]

Didn't the staff at Norwich have problems with him? I remember there being something about his conduct there not being brilliant.

 

[Blake Griffin]

Didn't the staff at Norwich have problems with him? I remember there being something about his conduct there not being brilliant.

yeah he was a pain and didn't do himself any favours there at all.

just because he was a bit of a tit at 18 or 19 doesn't mean he was destined to remain that way forever though. most kids grow up, some don't but most do. around that same time we were also trying to sign jack grealish, a player who'd gotten into far more trouble at that age than edwards ever had. you have to cut the tie at some point if it looks like they'll never learn but it seemed like once he'd crossed poch there was no way back for him. i saw an interview with him recently and he's matured a lot, maybe the move had a lot to do with that but time also helps.

 

[faze_coys]

Looks so much stronger now

 

[s_purs]

I saw rave reviews about him last night, was he consistently good throughout the game in your opinions? Do you think he would be good back at Spurs after seeing him against us last night (and the start to the season he has had)?

 

[H-SF]

Haven’t read fully but gathering that we can basically buy him back for half price or we get 50% of any sale to another club. Good work from Levy it has to be said. One to keep an eye on, I’d love us to buy him back.

 

[Hakkz]

Haven’t read fully but gathering that we can basically buy him back for half price or we get 50% of any sale to another club. Good work from Levy it has to be said. One to keep an eye on, I’d love us to buy him back.

Why would he want to come?

 

[Marty]

Haven’t read fully but gathering that we can basically buy him back for half price or we get 50% of any sale to another club. Good work from Levy it has to be said. One to keep an eye on, I’d love us to buy him back.

I think "buy him for half price" is a bit of a fallacy, because if we were the only bidder then Sporting would not accept the same fee from us that they would accept from any other club. But it would give us a strong hand when it comes to negotiations should we be interested.

 

[Houdini]

W

Why would he want to come?

Why would we want him?

 

[H-SF]

Why would he want to come?

He’s said in a couple of interviews how much he loves London and it’s his home. He also said last night he wants to return to the Prem at some point. Of course he’d come back ffs.

 

[H-SF]

I think "buy him for half price" is a bit of a fallacy, because if we were the only bidder then Sporting would not accept the same fee from us that they would accept from any other club. But it would give us a strong hand when it comes to negotiations should we be interested.

See your point but he’s got a release clause worth 52m. So we could simply activate it and effectively pay 26m for him.

 

[Marty]

See your point but he’s got a release clause worth 52m. So we could simply activate it and effectively pay 26m for him.

True, I didn't read the piece so if there's a clause there there's nothing they can do.

 

[rossdapep]

Still got big gaps in his game though.

When our defence was organised he didn't do too much and Bentancur easily brushed him off the ball a couple of times.

Having said that when we were a little stretched he was able to really cause havoc as he's quite hard to get off the ball or force somewhere less dangerous, which is a big asset

 

[faze_coys]

Would love to see him in the prem, hope he’s on someone like newcastles radar

 

[SpringHeeledJim]

Skillful on the ball undoubtedly but doesn't look like a premier League player to me.

Sadly, I must add as he looked incredible as Spurs youth player.

 

[Swalien]

Could he make the World Cup squad?

 

[neilp]

Could he make the World Cup squad?

I wouldn’t think he’s anywhere near it.