Sporting Lisbon attacker Marcus Edwards has said that he "would love" to return to England in the future.

The 23-year-old came through the youth system at Tottenham Hotspur, joining the club at the age of eight, and he made his first-team debut against Gillingham in the EFL Cup in September 2016.

Edwards spent time on loan at Norwich City and Excelsior in the early stages of his professional career before leaving Spurs on a permanent basis in 2019 for Vitoria de Guimaraes.

The Englishman enjoyed a successful period with the Portuguese outfit, scoring 20 goals and registering 14 assists in 96 appearances, which led to Sporting signing him in January 2022.

Edwards has now represented the Portuguese giants on 31 occasions, contributing eight goals and eight assists, and he has been in strong form at club level this term.

The attacker has three goals and three assists in 10 league outings, while he has scored twice and provided two assists in five appearances in the Champions League.

Edwards was on the scoresheet against Spurs in the European Cup on Wednesday, finding the back of the net in the 22nd minute before Rodrigo Bentancur levelled the scores late on.

A number of Premier League clubs are believed to be keeping a close eye on the attacker, who has another four years left to run on his contract with Sporting.

Edwards has insisted that he has "grown up in a lot of ways" since leaving Spurs, and he is interested in returning to English football at some stage in the future.

"Definitely (has matured), that is naturally going to happen with age. I have grown up in a lot of ways, I'm 23 and last time I was at Tottenham, I was only 17, 18. I was only a baby, so I have grown up. I was just a kid, you know what kids are like," Edwards told the Evening Standard.

"Definitely (recommend making the move to Portugal). Everyone has a different journey. For me it worked out, going over there and it clicked straight away. It has been good for me, but I would love to play in England [again] and be near my family.

"Coming back here in front of everyone I know, it was great fun. Coming into the game I was naturally on edge, I have got a lot of friends watching. When the game started it was easy, I scored, a lot of emotions came out.

"I don't feel like [I proved a point], I just play every game the same. The extra motivation was having my friends and family there."

Edwards only made two senior appearances during his time in England, with his other outing coming while on loan at Norwich during the 2017-18 Championship season.

As well as playing an important role against Spurs earlier this week, the attacker provided an assist in Sporting's 3-1 victory over Casa Pia in the league last weekend. body check tags ::