The Harry Winks Dilemma for Mourinho and Tottenham Hotspur
By Aaron Coe
Having one of our own in the team is fantastic for fans alternatively selling an academy product for profit is good which one is the future for Harry Winks.
Like almost any athlete who is not a star, the player and their performance will often divide opinions, this is true of Harry Winks at Tottenham Hotspur. Winks, born less than an hour from Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in Hemel Hempstead, has been with the club since he was sixteen joining in July 2012. At times pegged to be a star, Winks may just be in his final season at the club.
After starring in the Hotspur youth academy, at both the U-18 and U-21 levels, Winks made his three-minute debut in Europa League against Partizan in November 2014. Winks had been named to the bench in several matches throughout the season, but those three minutes were his first in action with the senior team, for the then 18-year-old Winks.
After that debut, Winks played only two matches in the 2015-16 season, also in Europa League for a total of 17 minutes. However, in the 2016-17 season, Winks broke through in a major way with the senior squad. After 3 appearances for only 20 minutes over the previous two campaigns, Winks finally got his chance.
In 2016-17 Harry Winks made 33 appearances in all competitions for Tottenham Hotspur, playing nearly 1300 minutes for the first team. Going from 20 to 1300 minutes was a major jump as was going from playing Partizan to Liverpool and Chelsea, but Winks seemed to be making the leap fine. Twelve of those 33 appearances had been starts and eight times Winks had gone the full 90.
Such were the performances coming from the young English midfielder, Mauricio Pochettino was known to compare the #8 to Xavi and Andres Iniesta – two Barcelona legends. However, 2016-17 had two big breaks for Harry Winks, his breakthrough with the senior team and a terrible ankle injury that kept him out for two months to end the season and has been an issue ever since.
Now some four seasons after Harry Winks big breakthrough with Tottenham Hotspur and as Spurs players fight for positions an the team fights to contend for silverware on multiple fronts, there are questions if Winks should continue to be part of that fight or be replaced. Most of the time in the business world of sports this is no-brainer, but for a homegrown academy product like Winks, things are a bit more complicated. So, what has happened with Harry Winks and what is his future?