Mauricio Pochettino has told Tottenham wonderkid Marcus Edwards he must grow up if he is to make the most of his huge natural talent.
Edwards, who has risen through the ranks at Spurs after joining the club at the age of seven, is rated as one of the outstanding young players in England.
But the 19-year-old has made just a single senior Spurs appearance despite clamours from fans to be fast-tracked into the team and was loaned out earlier this week to Championship side Norwich City for the rest of the season.
Pochettino is an admirer of Edwards’ ability but insisted that he needs to mature and learn what it takes to be a professional footballer.
“Marcus is a very talented player but now he is in a moment where he needs to move on to step up,” said Pochettino, as quoted by Football London. “An opportunity has arrived at a very good club like Norwich and I think you can see – they played against Chelsea and they played very good football.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for him to step up, move there and try – in three and a half months – to try to get more mature and to try to compete after spending maybe half his life in Tottenham’s academy.
“He now has the possibility to be a man. To be more mature and to help himself to achieve all that we believe he can achieve. Its a process and for us he must be positive.”
It is the latest public criticism of Edwards from Pochettino, who claimed in his recently-published book that it would have been “impossible” for the the left-footed dribbler to have made it in times gone by due to his attitude and behaviour.
OPINION
Loan moves to lower league clubs do not always work out perfectly for rising star at the Premier League big hitters. Just ask Harry Kane, whose ordinary spells at Norwich, Millwall, Leicester City and Leyton Orient made his subsequent rise even more extraordinary. Edwards has followed Kane and another Spurs academy product Alex Pritchard to Carrow Road and has the opportunity to show he can be a force in senior football, just as he has been while running amok at Under-23s and age-group level. Pochettino has questioned Edwards’ conduct and he needs to show that he can fuse commitment to the profession with his gifts for dribbling past players and delivering inch-perfect set pieces. It is clear that he is so highly rated but it takes more that raw ability to make it at the top level. Pochettino has an excellent track record of developing young talent and Edwards must heed his manager’s advice if he is to make it.