Gary Lineker was full of praise last night for Sporting Lisbon winger Marcus Edwards, a player who was once on Tottenham’s books before being sold to Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes in 2019.
Taking to Twitter, the former England international lauded the 23-year-old attacker in Tottenham’s 1-1 draw against Sporting as Edwards opened the scoring on the night with a wonderful strike against his former side, with Lineker certainly a fan of what he saw from the youngster.
Edwards has been one of the breakout talents in the UEFA Champions League this season with the forward also impressing against Tottenham in the reverse fixture earlier this campaign. And many expect Sporting to soon pocket a huge transfer fee for the Enfield-born star.
According to the Telegraph, Edwards has a £52m release clause that Sporting are eager to see activated if the winger is sold, with Tottenham set to receive half the transfer fee after a clever piece of negotiating from Daniel Levy last year in Edwards’ move to the Portuguese giants from Vitoria.
Whilst Sporting came away with a point on the evening, Edwards’ display and his goal was a great personal achievement for the winger, and for Tottenham, it was another stark reminder of how poorly the club were on their part to sell such an exciting talent without giving him a real chance.
Tottenham should still regret selling Edwards three years later
Every player develops at their own pace, and whilst Edwards might not have become the player he is today had he not left for Portugal as a teenager, Tottenham made a grave error in giving up on the attacker without giving the youngster a real chance to showcase his skills.
Indeed, the forward has established himself as quite the player in Lisbon, and with a return to England likely on the cards in the next 12 to 18 months, Edwards has proven already that Tottenham failed him in selling him so soon in his career and not giving him a real shot at success.
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