How Marcus Edwards made Tottenham regret sale | 'Of course I want Premier League return'

Marcus Edwards says he wants to return to the Premier League "one day", but insists he remains fully focused with Sporting Lisbon "for now" after helping the Portuguese side to a 2-0 Champions League victory over former club Tottenham on Tuesday.

Edwards - a former Spurs academy player - was one of Sporting's biggest threats against Antonio Conte's side, almost scoring a wonder goal with Lionel Messi-esque run.

The 23-year-old, who former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino once compared to Messi, said the result was not made sweeter by the opposition.

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His qualities… it’s only looks – his body and the way that he plays – remember a little bit from the beginning of Messi.

"It feels great and I think we deserved it. We showed how we can play, " Edwards told BT Sport.

"I wouldn't say extra special, but it was a special feeling to play against Spurs. It was good to see people I know - players and coaching staff.

"I stayed the same. Focus was the same. It's a proper family environment here and I couldn't be happier.

"It's home, so of course I want to come back there [to the Premier League] one day. I just focus on what I'm doing here for now."

'He will have a bright future'

Tottenham captain Hugo Lloris praised Edwards for his performance against his former club, saying he will have a bright future.

Lloris said: "He's more mature now but has the same quality we could see a few years ago when he trained with the first team.

"He has the perfect profile to play in that type of team and that type of league, but obviously, if he continues in the same way, he will have a bright future."

Edwards on England's radar?

Edwards' performances in Portugal and in the Champions League have started to catch the eye in England, and with Gareth Southgate naming his squad for this month's Nations League fixtures on Thursday, speculation has started to build over whether the 23-year-old will get a call-up.

However, Sky Sports News senior reporter Rob Dorsett doesn't think a surprise call-up will happen quite yet.

"Another sparkling youngster, Edwards impressed earlier this week with a man-of-the-match, goalscoring, Champions League performance against Tottenham - the club that released him three years ago. But don't expect a surprise call up for him. Yet."

Even if there isn't England recognition just yet for Edwards, Sporting head coach Ruben Amorim has already claimed he could easily make the jump to the national team.

"Marcus is a very talented player," Amorim said. "He's one of the best players for playing between the lines. He took a little while to adapt to the Portuguese lifestyle but he has so much talent. He can get much better.

"He can even get to the English national team. He has to focus more on training and all that is around it. Football is not just matches, it's everything in between. I trust him a lot. I know he can grow a lot. He has a long way to go but I think we did excellent business in signing him."

I don't think about that [England] but of course, it would be nice.

Analysis: Edwards shows Spurs erred in selling him

Sky Sports' Nick Wright:

Marcus Edwards insisted there was no added motivation in facing his former club when interviewed immediately afterwards but it did not look that way out on the pitch. Edwards played like a young man with a point to prove.

The 23-year-old, born and raised in Enfield and a Spurs player from the age of eight until he was 20, was the outstanding performer as Sporting Lisbon stunned Antonio Conte's side at Estadio Jose Alvalade.

Spurs could not live with him in the first half, his speed on the break making him a dangerous outlet from as early as the seventh minute, when he motored forward and teed up Pedro Goncalves for a low shot which required a sprawling save from Hugo Lloris.

There were plenty more eye-catching moments to follow but the best of them came shortly before half-time when Edwards, once likened to Lionel Messi by Mauricio Pochettino, embarked on a magical run the man himself would have been proud of.

Edwards completed five dribbles in the first half alone - two more than anyone else managed in the entire game - and there was intelligence to his play too, evident in the positions he took up between the lines as Sporting's false nine.

His performance was a continuation of a fine start to the season in Portugal and it will leave some at Spurs red-faced.

His boyhood club had high hopes for him in his youth but a player long regarded as the most talented of his generation at Spurs was sold in 2019 having only been afforded one senior appearance. How they must regret that now. Edwards looks destined for big things.