It is easy to misunderstand Marcus Edwards. Spend some time with him and yes, you can see why people have found him hard to get through to. Why he might already have a reputation, at the age of 20, as a difficult, disengaged character. This is his first interview with a British newspaper and frankly it does not come easily to him.

But there is a blurred line between surly and shy, between rude and reserved. Spend enough time with Edwards and you find a young man who is honest, self-aware and who owns up to the mistakes he has made in his brief career so far. He admits that he was a difficult teenager in the Tottenham academy, and he knows that his loan spell at Norwich City should have gone better. But Edwards has just returned from a season on loan in Holland, when he showed exactly why there has been so much fuss about him already. This was the season when Edwards finally grew up.

Speak to Edwards about the game itself, or about his time at Excelsior, and you realise that all he ever wanted to do was to play football. With a ball at his feet and defenders to get past, he is one of the most expressive, confident, imaginative people this country has ever produced. It is the other side of industry, away from the pitch, that has not always come so easily to him, where he has never felt that same natural confidence. That is why he thinks people have got him wrong.

Does he feel misunderstood?

“Yeah, I think so, I think some people don’t understand me,” Edwards says. Why? “I don’t know, I think maybe it’s the way I talk.” And why is that? “I think that is how it is in football.”

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Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Show all 29 1 /29 Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur How did Tottenham’s players perform this season? Ahead of their final match of the 2018/19 campaign, the Champions League final against Liverpool in Madrid, we give each member of the Spurs squad a rating out of 10. Getty Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Mauricio Pochettino − 9 No new signings. A delay to the new stadium. And the worst injury crisis he has ever faced in his managerial career. And yet Pochettino took it all in his stride, securing a place in the top four and leading Spurs to their first ever Champions League final. No wonder there were so many rumours that both Real Madrid and Manchester United wanted to recruit him earlier in the season. Getty Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Hugo Lloris − 7 There has been more than the odd high-profile mistake and his failure to deal with Mohamed Salah’s cross at Anfield handed Liverpool all three points in an absorbing Premier League fixture. But he remains an outstanding shotstopper and his three consecutive penalty saves proved crucial to Tottenham’s attempts to finish in the top four. Icon Sport via Getty Images Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Michel Vorm − 5 The 35-year-old has appeared just four times this season and has now been surpassed by Paulo Gazzaniga in the goalkeeping pecking order. Action Images via Reuters Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Paulo Gazzaniga − 6 Has impressed when called upon this season, asserting himself as Tottenham’s number two goalkeeper while also winning his first Argentina call-up. Getty Images Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Kieran Trippier − 4 Began this campaign on a high having enjoyed a superb World Cup with England, so much so that he was being talked about as one of the best right-backs in football. That all seems a long time ago now. It has been a difficult season for the 28-year-old with his defensive vulnerabilities being repeatedly exposed. Has been linked with a move away from north London this summer. Getty Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Danny Rose − 6 Once one of Tottenham’s most important players, Rose’s contribution has declined in recent years, with Pochettino coming to prefer Ben Davies at left-back. But this season Rose has enjoyed something of a comeback, reclaiming his place in Pochettino’s preferred starting XI and appearing to repair the combustible relationship he had with his manager. Getty Images Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Toby Alderweireld − 7 Has made close to 50 appearances in all competitions for Tottenham this season. Utterly invaluable to the club this season, although he is still yet to agree a contract extension and looks destined to leave this summer. Spurs will be hard-pressed to sign a replacement of similar quality. Getty Images Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Jan Vertonghen − 8 A genuine club legend. As dependable as ever at the back, but his season will forever be remembered for his stunning performance against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley. Filling in at left-back, Vertonghen kept Jadon Sancho quiet all night, before scoring a wonderful goal to put Spurs in complete control of the Champions League Round of 16 tie. Getty Images Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Davinson Sanchez − 7 The Colombia international is still very raw and can struggle when isolated by opposition attackers, such as when Spurs were run ragged by Ajax in the first-leg of their Champions League semi-final. But he is still 22. He has such a big future and will be even more important to the club if Alderweireld does indeed leave this summer. Action Images via Reuters Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Kyle Walker-Peters − 6 The 22-year-old is highly rated at Spurs but he would have hoped for a better campaign, particularly given the struggles of both Trippier and Aurier. Walker-Peters will have been frustrated to have made just 10 appearances: should Spurs sign another full-back this summer he would do well to consider his future at the club. Getty Images Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Juan Foyth − 6 Has looked sublime in fits and bursts and is adored by Pochettino. Foyth was also called up to the Argentina national time for the first time this season. But the 21-year-old endured some testing times: conceding two penalties on his Premier League debut and receiving a red card in the shambolic loss to Bournemouth. REUTERS Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Serge Aurier − 5 So much hype, such little end product. A combination of injury woes and personal problems have seen the Ivory Coast international restricted to just eight league appearances this season. It is obvious Pochettino still does not completely trust him after a string of erratic performances following his move from Paris Saint-Germain in 2017. AFP/Getty Images Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Ben Davies − 6 Has lost his place in Tottenham’s first-team to Rose in recent weeks. Still an important player, but after an inconsistent season he may fear the rumoured arrival of Ryan Sessegnon from Fulham. AFP/Getty Images Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Harry Winks − 7 Has struggled with injuries throughout the campaign, and is currently making his comeback from groin surgery. But what a player. Took on far more responsibility this term – in particular scoring a winning goal against Fulham in January – and was so evidently missed when kept out of the team due to injury. Formed a fine midfield partnership with Moussa Sissoko. EPA Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Erik Lamela − 5 Started the season reasonably well, scoring a consolation against Liverpool and then getting on the scoresheet against Brighton in the next game, only for injuries to keep him out through a significant portion of the second half of the season. Increasingly doubtful that he will ever remain fit enough to truly consolidate a place in this team. Getty Images Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Victor Wanyama − 6 Has unexpectedly re-emerged as a crucial player for Spurs over the past few weeks. The extent of the knee injuries he has suffered over the past two seasons mean he is unlikely to ever again reach the level that he hit in the 2016/17 campaign, but despite some shaky moments, he played an important role in the European victories over both Manchester City and Ajax. Getty Images Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Georges-Kevin N'Koudou − 4 Nkou-who? Made just one Premier League appearance, crossing the ball for Winks to score against Fulham, before disappearing on loan to Monaco. Has absolutely no future at Spurs. REUTERS Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Eric Dier − 5 A very disappointing season for an established first-team player. Was kept out for a long period due to appendicitis and it is difficult to see where he fits into Pochettino’s preferred starting XI when everybody is fit. And there is still some confusion over whether he is best deployed as a midfielder or defender. Getty Images Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Moussa Sissoko − 8 Who on earth would have expected Sissoko to emerge as Tottenham’s most important player this season? Has completely turned his Spurs career around. And while his finishing may remain woeful, Spurs simply would not have reached the Champions League final without him. (Credit too long, see caption) Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Dele − 7 A difficult season for Dele, who like many of his team-mates has struggled with injuries this season. He has also faded in recent weeks, perhaps as a consequence of playing so much football in the summer. But he remains one of the club’s most important players, particularly when playing alongside a fully fit Kane. EPA Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Christian Eriksen − 7 Rumours of a summer transfer to La Liga along with a series of sub-par performances saw his stock fall among some Tottenham supporters. But he is still the heartbeat of this team and contributed so many important goals and assists, from his winner against Inter Milan at Wembley to his pass to Son Heung-min to break the deadlock in the club’s inaugural match at their new stadium. REUTERS Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Lucas Moura − 8 A breakthrough season for the Brazilian. Scored a brace against Manchester United, a hat-trick against Huddersfield, and then repeated that trick against Ajax in one of the most incredible Champions League performances in history. A bit-part player at the beginning of the season, Lucas is now a regular starter and cult hero. PA Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Oliver Skipp − 6 The 18-year-old has made 10 appearances in all competitions in his debut season, performing admirably when called upon and providing two assists in the 7-0 FA Cup win over Tranmere. One for the future, perhaps alongside fellow academy product Winks. AFP/Getty Images Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Mousa Dembele − 5 An ankle ligament injury put paid to his Tottenham career, before an £11m move to Guangzhou R&F in the winter transfer market. Action Images via Reuters Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Son Heung-min − 8 Tottenham’s player of the season. Truly stepped up to the plate after Kane’s untimely injury, scoring 20 goals in all competitions, including that priceless winner against Manchester City in north London. That he achieved so much and elevated his game to the next level in a season that saw him play in two major international tournaments with South Korea is nothing short of remarkable. (Credit too long, see caption) Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Vincent Janssen − 5 Perhaps a 5/10 is generous, but it was only in January that Pochettino said Janssen was “not in my plans” and would not feature for the club again. Yet the club’s injury crisis presented him with a chance that he took, with the Dutchman making three appearances before the end of the campaign. Almost certain to leave this summer. Getty Images Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Fernando Llorente − 6 What a rollercoaster season. Struggled as a stand-in for the injured Kane, scoring just one goal in 20 Premier League appearances, but delivered when it mattered in the Champions League, bundling the ball over the line at the Etihad against Manchester City. Another that is likely to leave this summer, but he will be remembered fondly in north London. REUTERS Season rankings: Tottenham Hotspur Harry Kane − 7 Still managed to score 17 Premier League goals despite missing a third of the season through injury. Tottenham’s talisman – and yet he will look back on this campaign with regret after damaging his ankle ligaments once again. Has a chance of returning for the Champions League final, but should Pochettino start him? Getty Images

Watch the clips of Edwards’ season on loan at Excelsior and you realise why so many people are so desperate for him to succeed. Here he was, thrown in at the deep end, away from home for the first time, in an unfamiliar country, slogging away at the wrong end of the Eredivisie. But it only takes a brief look at YouTube to see what a unique player he is. Watch for the balance, the change of pace, the close control, the core strength packed into that skinny frame. Watch for the way he goes past defenders, stops on the spot then goes past them again. Edwards’ hero is Neymar: watch him play and it starts to make sense.

Ask Edwards what his best game was for Excelsior and he points to a 2-1 home win over FC Emmen in February. Excelsior went 1-0 down early in the second half, when Edwards decided to turn it round. He scored the immediate equaliser, taking the ball 25 yards from goal, darting forward, shaping to shoot, beating his man, then finding the opposite bottom corner of the goal. Three minutes later he made the winner, getting the ball in the centre circle, running forward, defenders backing off him, sliding a perfect pass through to Dennis Eckert, who beat the keeper.

Excelsior were relegated in the post-season play-offs, but even then Edwards still posted some remarkable numbers, up there with the best players from the best teams. He led the Eredivisie in dribbles per game, with 3.3, ahead of Steven Bergwijn (3.2), of PSV Eindhoven and Holland. He was the second most-fouled player in the league, averaging three times per game, just behind Mark Diemers of Fortuna Sittard. And so Edwards, speaking to The Independent in a hotel in north London, can look back with real pride at his time in the Netherlands.

We watch the clips of his best moments for Excelsior. “It makes me feel good when I watch it, doing some good stuff on those clips,” he says. So what is he most proud of? “Taking players on. Just playing free football. I usually get good feedback about my playing, from players, managers. They always tell me I'm a good player.” Alessandro Damen, the goalkeeper, thinks Edwards has the ability to be the best player in the division. Jeffry Fortes, the right-back, says Edwards is the best he has ever played with. “My team-mates would always tell me, ‘keep going Marcus, you’re a good player.’”

Edwards is especially pleased with how he did, given how hard it was at first to settle in a new country. He missed his mother at home in Cheshunt, and at first he came back to north London whenever he could. “At the start of the season, I was finding it hard,” he says. “I missed home a lot. It was a new country. New people. It took me a while to get used to it.” At the start, as he struggled to find his feet, the locals in Rotterdam dubbed him het mysterie-Edwards.

The football was different, too. Before this season, Edwards’ senior experience was limited to 15 minutes for Tottenham in the League Cup in September 2016 and six minutes for Norwich City in the Championship in March 2018. This is why he was so keen to take the chance to go abroad this season, inspired by the success of his good friend Jadon Sancho at Borussia Dortmund. But making the switch from Spurs’ under-23s team was still a big jump

Edwards is good friends with Jadon Sancho (Getty)

“It took me a while to get used to it, professional football,” he says. “It's different from youth football.” For a start, he used to play as a no10 for Spurs’ youth teams, but in Holland he was pushed out on the right. He is happy to play in either position. “It’s a very different style of football than England. But I think it helped me gain experience. I think it's more tactical, because it's professional football. And I noticed that the defending was different, the shape, the formation. But I think it suits me.”

It took until the winter break - four weeks off over Christmas - for Edwards to come back and feel truly comfortable in Rotterdam, and to show what he can do. “After the winter break, I got my head down a bit more, and it was just straight football,” he says. “I think I turned it around.” It helped that his father Darren moved out to Rotterdam to be with him. In Excelsior’s first game after the break, Edwards was brilliant in a 3-2 defeat at Vitesse, skipping through defenders and finding the bottom corner from outside the box. Vitesse manager Leonid Slutsky said afterwards Edwards was an “incredible player”.

What mattered most during his time in Holland, even more than the football, was that Edwards realised what it took to be a professional player. How to take responsibility, looking after himself, training hard, tracking back, doing all the ugly, boring side of the game. The things that maybe did not come so naturally to him, but the things that you have to do to make it in the game.

“Just looking after myself was the hardest thing,” Edwards looks back. “Just being there all by myself. It was different for me. But I definitely learned what it takes. What you have to do every day, on and off the pitch, to be a professional footballer, how you have to live. I learned that. I think I did grow up.”

The Spurs player in action for Excelsior (Getty)

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Edwards is mature enough to accept that he has not always been perfect, or the easiest player to handle. He knows that he now has a reputation, which he has to prove wrong. But when he looks back at the teenage Edwards, still playing for the Tottenham youth teams, he sees a very different person.

“I know I was a bit difficult when I was going through the academy,” Edwards admits. He accepts that he had his “ups and downs” with the Spurs staff. He knows that the disputes over the first professional contract he eventually signed in 2016 damaged his standing at the club. He knows that he never used to track back, when he was 16 or 17, and why the coaches used to be so hard on him about it.

But there is no question that Edwards looks at his time at Tottenham with real warmth. He feels grateful to Mauricio Pochettino for the support that he has given him. He appreciated the moment before his League Cup debut when Pochettino compared him to a young Lionel Messi. “It was just nice to know that the manager thought I was a good player.” He felt trusted and included when he started to train with the first team. “I just feel like he was very welcoming, he made you feel part of the team.” He is grateful to Danny Rose, Eric Dier and Georges Kevin N’Koudou for looking after him too.

Edwards’ relationship with Tottenham soured and Pochettino wrote in his book ‘Brave New World’ that he had “authority and behavioural problems”. In January 2018 he went to Norwich City on loan, but he barely made an impact, making just one brief substitute appearance. Daniel Farke said that he needed to work harder and eventually sent him back to Tottenham early.

Speaking about that difficult spell for the first time, Edwards is keen to give his own side of the story. Not least because he says he played through a back injury to get to Norwich in the first place. He never felt fully fit in training at Norwich, so could never give his best, but he did not want to pull out either. “I think there were loads of things with that one. I had a back injury when I went there. I was so eager to go, I just got through the clearance training [which is] to see if you're fit. But when I got there, and trained, I felt my back. I was in and out of training for two or three months. So that's the main reason"

There were criticisms from Norwich of his time-keeping and Edwards concedes that “towards the end of the loan”, he “started to get a bit frustrated”. But he is clearly hurt by what was said, and does not feel that he was judged fairly. "I think maybe it was a bit unfair. The whole situation that happened at Norwich, it already played onto what Pochettino said. Even though I was definitely a lot younger then, that's when I was growing up. It was a big misunderstanding."

The 20-year-old has one year left on his Spurs deal (Getty)

“I feel as though, once Daniel Farke said it out loud, that is when I got misunderstood a bit. Because I felt I had already grown up. I thought I was already grown up, and all the attitude stuff, that was when I was going through the academy. When I hit 19, I felt I was a bit more mature. That’s why I feel I was misunderstood.”

But after the frustration of Norwich, and the eventual vindication of Excelsior, Edwards now feels ready to push on with the next stage of his career. He has one year left on his Spurs contract but he just wants to keep playing first-team football now, wherever that takes him.