Tottenham accelerates Harry Winks’ return to action
By Ryan Wrenn
After suffering a horrific and season ending injury in April, Harry Winks is back training with Tottenham in hopes of catching Mauricio Pochettino’s eye for the start of the season.
The Tottenham Academy graduate’s return to the field comes more than a week before his teammates are scheduled to make their returns from summer holiday.
According to the Evening Standard and Tottenham’s website, Winks will be hoping this early return gives him a leg up in earning more minutes for the 2017/18 season.
The knee injury he sustained against Burnley on April 1st cut short Winks’ first season as a first team regular in Pochettino’s team, a campaign that saw him earn almost 1,300 minutes across every competition Spurs were involved in.
For a team led by a managed like Pochettino who is reluctant to meaningfully rotate, that represents a huge show of confidence in Winks’ ability. The 21-year-old will rightfully take that as a sign that he’s slated for an ever-expanding role in the seasons to come.
"“I’m obviously still rehabbing and I’ll be in a good 10 days or so before everyone, just getting myself fit, testing my ankle and making sure it’s okay to go back into full training.“I’ve almost got a pre-season before a pre-season just to get myself fit so hopefully I can come back in the best shape I can possibly be in.”"
Such confidence clearly doesn’t prevent Winks from working for extra minutes, and nor should it. Winks is the obvious successor to Mousa Dembélé, who turns 30 next month and might not be able to sustain his stellar form much longer. With Spurs eyeing players like Ross Barkley though, Winks will know he is not yet the shoe in for that role.
If Winks can come out strong with the team re-assembles ahead of their brief tour of the United States in late July, there’s a chance that Spurs don’t have to test the transfer market for a long term Dembélé replacement.
Relying on Winks would fit neatly into the narrative Pochettino himself likes to advertise most often: everyone has a chance on his teams, regardless of age and experience. So long as you show heart and a real passion on the training pitch, there’s a good chance you will be slowly introduced into the starting XI.
Players like Dele Alli benefited from this culture at the club, and Winks will be looking to his countryman as an example of how to install himself in starting lineups.
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Dele is an exceptional player, of course, and it might be more instructive to learn the patience of a player like Josh Onomah. The England under-21 World Cup champion has been billed as the next big thing at Spurs for two or three years running now. At present he still appears far from the starting XI.
Winks resides somewhere in the middle of Dele and Onomah, with plenty of capable performances last season. Of all the homegrown players waiting on the sidelines, Winks remains the most likely to become the first Academy graduate since Harry Kane to earn regular starts.