The season may not have ended in the fashion fans were hoping it would, but Tottenham Hotspur appear to have taken a step back towards playing exciting and entertaining football under Ange Postecoglou.
The Australian has banished the dreary displays fans were subjected to under José Mourinho, Nuno Espírito Santo and Antonio Conte, and while a Champions League place was within their grasp, the Lilywhites look well-placed to improve next season.
However, to do that, Daniel Levy and Co need to provide the manager with the right players, and based on recent reports, they could be about to add a winger who'd be the perfect rival for last summer's most expensive signing, Brennan Johnson.
Tottenham Hotspur transfer news
According to recent reports from Portugal (via Sport Witness), Tottenham Hotspur are interested in bringing former youth player and Sporting CP star Marcus Edwards back to N17 this summer.
The report claims that the North Londoners view the Englishman as a perfect solution to their current issues surrounding home-grown players.
Moreover, it shouldn't be a particularly expensive transfer to complete either, as the report has revealed that an offer of around €20m, which converts to about £17m, would be enough to tempt the Lisbon side into selling.
Moreover, with Edwards looking for a return to England, this move seems to suit all parties, and the extra competition for Johnson might push him to reach new heights.
How Edwards compares to Johnson
Now, Edwards, whom talent scout Jacek Kulig describes as "a joy to watch", has played in several positions in his career, including out on the left, but he has started the vast majority of his games as an out-and-out right-winger. So, with Johnson set to be one of his main competitors for game time if this deal goes ahead, how do the pair stack up against one another?
Well, from a pure output perspective, it's closer than many might imagine. Last season, the Sporting ace scored six goals and provided nine assists in 44 games, meaning he averaged a goal involvement every 2.93 games. In contrast, the Lilywhites' winger returned five goals and ten assists in 38 games, equating to a goal involvement every 2.5 matches.
However, when looking at the 2022/23 campaign, the Welshman could only manage 13 goals and assists in 44 appearances for Forest, which is a goal involvement every 3.38 games, whereas the Sporting star racked up 26 goals and assists in 51 matches, equating to a goal involvement every 1.9 appearances.
How about their underlying numbers, then? Are the two widemen just as close to one another under the hood?
Interestingly, the Englishman comes out looking better in this comparison, and by quite some margin at that.
For example, while he comes out second best in some metrics such as miscontrols, number of times dispossessed and assists, he comes out ahead in most others, including non-penalty expected goals and assists, actual non-penalty goals, progressive passes and carries, shots and shots on target, ball recoveries, goal and shot-creating actions, and successful take-ons, all per 90.
Of course, the "wonderful" Sporting ace, as dubbed by Kulig, is playing in a weaker league, but the numbers are impressive.
Ultimately, Johnson had a reasonably successful debut campaign for Spurs last season and showed a great deal of potential to improve in 2024/25.
However, considering the fee being reported and his comparison to the Welshman, bringing Edwards to the club this summer could provide the perfect competition for the former Forest star, which can only be a good thing.