Tottenham one step away from transfer windfall boost without selling player

Tottenham are due a helpful sum of money if things go to plan over the next week or so. Spurs are set to make significant improvements to their squad this summer, needing to add quality and depth after a hugely disappointing campaign.

Spurs could still snatch Champions League qualification by winning the Europa League, but even that would oblige them to spend significantly given how far from Champions League quality they currently look.

Player exits will help raise funds for spending this summer, but the North London club can also look forward to a pay day without making a sale. That’s because Burnley are currently second in the Championship, level on points with leaders Leeds United and five points clear of Sheffield United in third with three games left.

The Clarets will likely secure automatic promotion in the next two games, and if they do, they will be obliged to sign winger Marcus Edwards from Sporting CP due to an agreement they have with the Portuguese club to make the loan move permanent should they win promotion.

That’s good for Tottenham because, according to SportWitness and reports in Portugal, Tottenham still own 35% of the player’s rights, given them a right to that total of the eventual fee. Edwards came through at Tottenham and then joined Vitoria de Guimaraes in 2019, but they only bought 50% of the player’s rights, and when Sporting CP bought him in 2022, they transferred those rights plus a little extra.

With Spurs still holding rights in the 26-year-old, they will get 35% of the £8.57million Burnley will have to pay this summer, and that will bag the North London club around £2.99million.

Edwards has made 12 league appearances for Burnley since joining in January, scoring once and assisting as many.

Scott Parker said of the winger recently: “We had that at the beginning of the season and you always have that if you’ve got quality and you’re a team producing what we have produced over the course of this year. Of course, you will have players that are attractive to other clubs, we are in a profession where there is a window that opens twice a year as well, so again, speculation or hearsay, it doesn’t surprise you one bit. Marcus, I see it with others in the squad as well.

“Marcus has brought a quality in the final third for us, he’s scored some goals, he attracts players, opposition are wary in terms of attracting two or three and we open up spaces elsewhere. He’s got individual quality as well, hence why we brought him here and I understood what Marcus would bring to us and us as a team. I knew he’d enhance us. He’s definitely been a large part and I think the whole team as well, our general improvement in the final third and as an attacking force has improved no end in terms of us understanding what we’ve been working on as well, I’ve seen it first-hand over the last few weeks. So while Marcus has added that, I do think as a group and as a team, our general structure in terms of attacking has improved massively.”

Sherwood was surprised by Edwards’ exit

Former Spurs boss Tim Sherwood told Sky Sports of Edwards’ exit when speaking this year: “I was shocked when he left the club (Spurs). I felt he needed a little bit more time because he was small. But perhaps he ran out of patience and wanted to go and further his own career. He went to Portugal and it worked out really well for him. Now he's back at Burnley and it was a huge coup for them in the Championship. Scott [Parker] used to come and watch a lot of sessions and did some himself when I was at Spurs. He would have seen Marcus then and would have seen the talent that was there. He's obviously got a very good memory!

"He enjoyed his time at Sporting under Ruben Amorim. Man Utd have got some worse players than Marcus Edwards at the minute, let me tell you that. I'm a little bit surprised that, considering the money we're talking about, that Ruben didn't have a little bit of a gamble on him. Perhaps they had players in the squad they didn't want to block the pathway of. But he knows the boy inside-out.”

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