Marcus Edwards has joined the Eredivisie club Excelsior on a season-long loan from Tottenham Hotspur as he seeks to ignite his career.
The 19-year-old attacking midfielder is hotly tipped but has faded from the first-team picture at Spurs over the past year or so and endured a difficult loan at Norwich City in the second half of last season.
Edwards, who is under contract at Tottenham until the summer of 2020, was aware that his opportunities under Mauricio Pochettino would be nonexistent this season and he believes that the move to Excelsior in Rotterdam can provide him with a platform.
The England youth international returned early from his loan at Norwich, having made only one appearance as an 84th-minute substitute against Fulham, and he is keen to dispel any questions that might have arisen from his spell at the Championship club.
Once described by Pochettino as the “Mini Messi” because of his playing style, Edwards made his Spurs debut as a 75th-minute substitute against Gillingham in the EFL Cup in September 2016 but that remains his only game for them.
Edwards becomes the latest young English player to move to mainland Europe in search of regular football. He follows, among others, Jadon Sancho, who went from Manchester City to Borussia Dortmund; Marcus McGuane (Arsenal to Barcelona); Chris Willock (Arsenal to Benfica); Jonathan Panzo (Chelsea to Monaco); Reo Griffiths (Spurs to Lyon); Keanan Bennetts (Spurs to Borussia Mönchengladbach) and Noni Madueke (Spurs to PSV Eindhoven).
Arsenal’s Reiss Nelson is primed to join Hoffenheim on loan.
