The Tottenham Hotspur player seems some way off a first-team breakthrough despite his undeniable talent.
When Tottenham Hotspur teenager Marcus Edwards signed a new long-term contract at the club, he would have been hoping it was the precursor to his much anticipated breakthrough.
However, since putting pen to paper on a deal that will keep him in North London until at least 2020, he has not built on his 15-minute cameo against Gillingham in last season’s EFL Cup, and recent comments from his manager Mauricio Pochettino during an interview with the London Evening Standard are unlikely to make the teenager feel any better.
Admitting that Edwards was still a long way from first-team material, with a prolonged stay in the under-23s the best for him at this stage of his career, the Tottenham boss all but admitted that he would not get another senior chance this season.
A home match against lower league opposition in the EFL Cup seemed the ideal chance for Edwards to earn another run-out. Instead he watched as those chances were given to Kyle Walker-Peters, Juan Foyth and Tashan Oakley-Boothe (a player 12 months Edwards’ junior).
As a result, one wonders if Edwards would have signed his new Tottenham deal if he knew Pochettino’s intentions, with a first-team breakthrough seemingly as far away as ever.
Of course it could be argued that Pochettino knows best, but at a time when teenagers are given chances to become not only bit-part players but major stars at big clubs (with Marcus Rashford, Ronaldo Vieira, Ben Woodburn and Tom Davies just a few examples) it is strange to see the Tottenham boss so reluctant to give his own majestic talent a few more minutes here and there.
Jadon Sancho is the latest player to move abroad in a bid to get the chance he was not afforded in England, and while Edwards is still expected to become a Tottenham star in time, it would be interesting to know what he would have done in hindsight.
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