Tottenham Hotspur are set to cross paths with a familiar face when they face Sporting CP in the Champions League on Tuesday - academy graduate Marcus Edwards.
Spurs got off to the best possible start in Group D last week, running out 2-0 winners over Marseille. They'll be coming up against an in-form Sporting side who demolished Europa League holders Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 six days ago.
In that game, Edwards opened the scoring just past the hour mark, registered an assist and was named Player of the Match on his first Champions League start.
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The 23-year-old has had an interesting career and looks to finally be putting it altogether this season.
Edwards has three goals and three assists in seven games in all competitions, with his striker against Frankfurt making him one of only five English players to score for a non-British club since 2019. It's also an average of a goal involvement every 67 minutes.
Comfortable on either foot, the England youth international can play on either wing or through the middle if required.
Such a promising prospect, former Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino compared him to Lionel Messi after Edwards signed his first professional contract in 2016.
"The qualities – it’s only looks, his body and the way that he plays – remember a little bit from the beginning of Messi," Pochettino declared on the eve of Edwards' first-team debut.
It's the kind of comment that is intended to help a young player thrive. It did the opposite and put a huge amount of expectation on Edwards' shoulders.
"I think that was said to help me in a way," Edwards told the Daily Mail.
"Just to put me out there and give me some recognition as he thought I was a good player.
"I think it got blown out of proportion a little bit but there were good intentions behind it.
"He brought me into the first team and believed in me so I appreciate it. I don't think about it so it doesn't really affect me."
After leaving Spurs in 2019, Edwards decided to move abroad and signed a contract with Portuguese outfit Vitoria de Guimaraes.
Moving abroad is something modern British players are comfortable with after the success of Gareth Bale's transfer to Real Madrid nine years ago, and Edwards benefitted massively.
A run of games for Vitoria saw him score his first goal against Arsenal in the Europa League and he made the switch to Sporting in January.
Could Edwards bring it full circle at the Estadio Jose Alvalade against his former employers? Stranger things have happened.
Topics: Tottenham Hotspur, Sporting CP, Champions League
Daniel Marland