West Ham United transfer news: Former Tottenham talent Marcus Edwards wanted, ‘booted out’ by Mauricio Pochettino
West Ham are after Sporting attacker Marcus Edwards and were in attendance at the weekend to watch him in action against Benfica, according to Graeme Bailey.
The 90min journalist said on the Talking Transfers podcast on 14 November that the Hammers were at the 2-1 Benfica victory on 12 November along with “more than a dozen teams” scouting various players, as they are on the trail of the 24-year-old winger.
The former Tottenham player has three goals and four assists so far this season, having recorded 12 goals and 14 assists in all competitions last term, having also been at Excelsior and Vitoria Guimaraes since leaving Spurs in 2019.
Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Man Utd were reportedly also in attendance watching a combination of Joao Neves, Antonio Silva and Goncalo Inaco.
Bayern Munich, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, AC Milan, Atalanta, Napoli, Bayer Leverkusen and Celtic have also been named as present for the meeting of the two Portuguese giants as the great and the good of Europe descended on the Estadio da Luz.
Bailey said (19m 35s): “Marcus Edwards, the former youngster, who was booted out of Tottenham by Mauricio Pochettino I believe, he’s getting a lot of attention… one of the ones West Ham are watching apparently.”
Toby Cudworth later added (22m 10s): “West Ham were at that game watching Marcus Edwards.”
Premier League return?
Edwards only made one first-team appearance for Spurs but has forged a nice career in the years since in the Netherlands and Portugal.
His numbers over the past couple of seasons have been impressive, with the winger also scoring 11 and assisting six between Guimaraes and Sporting in the campaign before last as he made a midseason move.
He is unlikely to come cheap but with the options behind top men Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus at the London Stadium increasingly uncertain to remain at the club there is a need to ensure there isn’t a drastic drop off behind the starters.
While David Moyes might not be around at West Ham for the long term he may be more taken with Edwards’ experience in England than other targets with no familiarity here.
Tim Steidten is sure to be the one who is at the forefront of who the Irons go after in the upcoming windows, and Edwards’ development in Europe looks like it might fit the bill.
But with so many top teams at the Benfica clash it isn’t a great stretch to assume at least a couple might also have their eye on the Englishman, so if a move is on the cards in January or next summer West Ham may well not be alone in the race.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers are in for an ace who Pochettino very much does like amid developments on his contract situation.