Marcus Edwards: Sporting Lisbon winger ‘leaves people for dead’ says Owen Hargreaves

Owen Hargreaves says Marcus Edwards “leaves people for dead” with his pace as comparisons between the Sporting Lisbon attacker and Lionel Messi have revitalised.

Edwards came through the Tottenham’s academy ranks and was nicknamed the ‘mini Messi’.

He left Spurs for Vitoria de Guimaraes in 2019 before joining Sporting at the start of this year where he has impressed.

“He leaves people for dead. Technically he’s fantastic.”

The 23-year-old forward joined Sporting for £9 million in January and Spurs allowed to forgo their 50% sell-on fee in order to carry it over to his deal at Sporting, where he has a £52m release clause.

Champions League winner Pedro Mendes revealed he saw Edwards when he moved to Portugal.

“He’s a fantastic little player,” said Mendes.

“When he signed for Guimaraes in the first days we saw something there. Then he signed for Sporting and he just became a fantastic player. He’s been terrific.”