Marcus Edwards

Marcus Edwards



Current Club: Burnley.

Previous Clubs: Sporting CP, Vitoria Guimaraes, Tottenham Hotspur.

Loan Clubs: Burnley, Excelsior, Norwich City.





International: N/A.

Trophies Won: Portugese League 2023/24, 2024/25. Portugese FA Cup 2025. European U-19 Championships 2017.





A few years back, Edwards was one of those kids being hyped as a 'wunderkind', the next Messi, etc. Fast forward to now, he is 26 years old, at what should be his peak, and he is playing for Burnley after being dropped by Sporting. One thing that is clear, he has massively failed to live up to the hype.



To a degree, you can still see why he was initially being talked up as a kid, and not just because he is a similar height to Lionel Messi. Edwards is a very tricky winger, with quick feet and an ability to dribble past players which can be entertaining to watch. It must be particularly fun for Burnley fans who are still getting used to life after Sean Dyche!



That is as far as any good points go though, as he lacks strength, he is the archetypal lightweight player, who can be easily knocked out of his stride. Sometimes Edwards is able to hang onto the ball using his quick feet while stumbling, but he is struggling to maintain any momentum or control. Added to that, his shooting is weak, he has little power behind his shots, so they need to be extremely well-placed to beat a keeper.



That no doubt contributes to his lack of goals in the league, he managed just one goal for Burnley in the 14 matches he played for them on loan, though he did score another in 2 FA Cup matches. For a winger, his end product is abysmal, he often goes on runs with his head down, even when he does get his head up, it is rare that Edwards' final ball is useful. Last season, he picked up just one assist across all the matches he played.



Even when looking at highlight reels, to try and see if I had missed some quality of his when watching him, they showed nothing of any end product. Lots of him running with the ball, usually stumbling and bumbling through a challenge or two, before it cuts off. There were only a few instances where his runs ended with him playing the ball off, which is very worrying for a highlights reel.



In fact, there was one clip posted up by UEFA entitled something along the lines of "When Marcus Edwards Imitated Messi" or similar. Except that even that one, which did show him make a great run from the halfway line, play a one-two and get deep inside the box with just the keeper to beat, ended with him failing to score. It is little wonder he has struggled to have the career he was predicted to have - he simply is not actually that effective, more of a show pony than a workhorse.



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