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Should Silva Take A Punt On Struggling Tottenham Youngster

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With Marco Silva assessing his options at Everton and no doubt already having formulated his list of potential targets as he looks to strengthen the first-team group at Goodison Park, stepping away from endless transfer speculation in the hope of finding something a little more tangible, I stumbled over a different type of speculation that is at least worth the effort of typing this piece.

football.london produced a piece this morning that looked at possible departures from White Hart Lane this summer in response to some comments that Mauricio Pochettino made recently.

One name appeared on the list that I found mildly interesting. 19-year-old midfielder Marcus Edwards.

Their blurb on the player reads.

“The 19-year-old midfielder is looking to move on after struggling to break into Pochettino’s first team squad despite the initial excitement around him. Pochettino is still a fan, despite Edwards’ recent unsuccessful loan spell at Norwich, and talks will take place in the coming weeks over whether the player leaves the club permanently or on loan. The club will certainly look to insert a buy-back clause or sell-on fee in any permanent deal.”

For anyone who keeps a weather eye out for youngsters starting to make a name for themselves, Edwards might be familiar as at one time Pochettino was so impressed after watching him play that he described him as ‘His qualities, it’s only looks – his body and the way that he plays – they make me remember a little bit the beginning of Lionel Messi.’

Now that quote was certainly overplayed and Pochettino has since spoken of his regret at the choice of words as the player has shown no signs of that. After making his first-team debut as a substitute, he suffered an injury that ruled him out for the rest of the season. He had the chance to go out on loan to Norwich but only made a substitute showing in the second half of last year and that spell was cut short amid suggestions of bad timekeeping and attitude problems.

If you’ve followed me that far, the kid is probably looking for a second chance having been well taken care of for many years in Tottenham’s system and it’s often said Premier League Academy systems don’t adequately prepare youngsters for life in the game and by definition some loan spells are designed to be an eye-opener.

The Norwich spell didn’t work on any level.

Everton have a great record at producing our own, Silva has demonstrated he’s a great man manager – is this a punt worth taking if the deal is right where he gets a fresh start and a second chance to use the ability he clearly has?

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