Marcus Edwards 2021/22: The English winger quietly developing in Portugal – scout report

Marcus Edwards will be a name familiar to many, particularly Tottenham fans, due to the youngster’s previous spell with Spurs. He came through the Tottenham academy, and had been widely touted as a player with clear first-team potential, but made the perhaps surprising decision to swap North London and the Premier League for Portuguese side Vitoria de Guimaraes and the Primeira Liga, in 2019. Edwards continued to develop out of the spotlight with Vitoria for two and a half seasons, before making the switch last month to Portuguese giants Sporting CP.

At the time of writing Sporting sit in second place in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, behind Benfica on 60 points. Therefore, with this move to Sporting, we may well see how Edwards fairs on the biggest international stage next season, as Sporting will likely qualify for the Champions League. It will be interesting to see how he performs at this level, and there will no doubt be English teams keeping an eye on his progress.

This tactical analysis and scout report will provide an analysis of Edwards’ key traits and the tactics he suits.

Overview

Edwards generally plays as a right-winger and is often used on the right side of a front three. He is left-footed and therefore is used as an inverted winger when appearing on the right.

The 23-year-old will switch wings during games but predominantly operates on the right-side. As you might expect, whilst he does operate out wide on the right flank with some frequency, as indicated in the heat map shown below, the vast majority of his play comes further inside, coming in the half-space and even with a fair amount of action coming from inside the 18-yard box.

Edwards initially hit the ground running at Vitoria, scoring nine times and making four assists in his first season, but last season he cooled somewhat with just three goals and one assist. However, this season, having scored seven and had two assists in all competitions, his form was enough to convince Sporting to spend just over seven million euros on him.

Crossing and creativity

Whilst the majority of Edwards’ crosses, or at least his most dangerous, come from him sliding past the opposition full-back and pulling the ball back across goal, he is still a threat with his less-favoured right-foot.