Tottenham Hotspur representatives were present at the Estadio da Luz to watch Benfica beat Sporting CP 2-1 in the Lisbon derby, keeping a close eye on Marcus Edwards and Pedro Goncalves, sources have confirmed to 90min.
Benfica came from behind to beat their city rivals in dramatic circumstances on Sunday night to go top of Liga Portugal at Sporting’s expense.
The visitors took a first-half lead when former Coventry City striker Viktor Gyokeres – who is wanted by the likes of Milan and Borussia Dortmund – fired in at the near post after being set through by Edwards.
Goncalo Inacio – a transfer target for Liverpool – was sent off for Sporting after receiving his second booking at the start of the second half as Benfica piled on the pressure. It would not be until added time that they broke Sporting’s resistance with Joao Neves and Casper Tengstedt scoring in the 94th and 97th minutes respectively to earn a famous win.
90min understands that various clubs from around Europe were present in Lisbon to run the rule over both sides’ young stars, with Spurs’ focus being on Edwards and Goncalves.
Edwards came through Tottenham’s youth academy after joining at the age of eight, making his senior debut back in 2016 in a 5-0 EFL Cup win against Gillingham. At the time, then-Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino compared Edwards to Messi – a comment the Argentine later hinted at regretting.
After failed loans at Norwich City and Dutch side Excelsior, Edwards left Tottenham for Vitoria Guimaraes in 2019, immediately impressing on arrival in Portugal. After two-and-a-half great seasons, Sporting snapped him up for €8m plus two players in exchange.
Since heading to Lisbon, Edwards has established himself as one of Sporting’s key players. He even scored on his first return to Tottenham last season, netting the opener in a 1-1 draw in the Champions League group stage.
Tottenham retain a sell-on fee for Edwards should Sporting decide to move him on, though 90min understands a portion of this clause was waived as part of Spurs’ negotiations to sign Pedro Porro back in January. The two clubs are on good terms after managing to thrash out a deal for the right-back at the very end of that transfer window.
90min also revealed in April that during scouting trips to watch Porro, Tottenham were impressed by the look of the versatile Goncalves.
Though he is capable of playing deep in midfield as well as in the hole, Goncalves is also proficient on either flank and has spent most of the 2023/24 season so far playing an inverted role off the left wing. In 17 appearances this term, Goncalves has registered five goals and four assists.
Goncalves, who has been capped twice by the Portugal national team, spent two seasons in England during his younger years with Wolves, though only made one senior appearance for them, coming off the bench in a 2-0 EFL Cup win at Sheffield Wednesday.
From Wolves, he returned to Portugal with Famalicao before earning a move to Sporting after just one season. He scored 23 goals during their 2020/21 Liga Portugal-winning campaign, earning Sporting their first title in 19 years.
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