Tottenham should not send Harry Winks on loan

Valencia is expected to make a second attempt at signing Harry Winks on loan, a prospective offer Tottenham should turn down. 

Even though Winks is currently out of favour in the current setup, Tottenham can ill-afford to send the Englishman anywhere on loan. And it appears Jose Mourinho agrees.

With the European Championships fast approaching, a move away from Hotspur Way makes sense for Winks, who needs consistent match time to stake his claim for a place on the Three Lions squad.

But Tottenham must keep their versatile asset at the club, as we all know how important depth of squad is in the Premier League. Moussa Sissoko, Tanguy Ndombele, Giovanni Lo Celso and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg are all ahead of Winks in the pecking order.Call it selfish, but that will matter little to Mourinho, who needs to keep hold of Winks just in case his squad gets hit with a rash of injuries.

Even if they avoid a fateful head-on collision with the injury bug, Spurs are facing a daunting, congested run of fixtures during the run in, precisely the time when Winks will give Mourinho an insurance policy he was so obviously without last season.

Playing a bit-part role won’t satisfy Winks, who became accustomed — particularly under Mauricio Pochettino, and before Højbjerg’s arrival — to starting each match in the centre of the park. That is no longer a reality, with Winks having to scratch and claw for minutes. But make no mistake, Winks is still an integral part of Tottenham and Mourinho’s plans.

Unless an astronomical figure is forthcoming from Valencia, don’t expect to see Winks go out on loan anytime soon. Which will probably cost him a spot on England’s European Championship side.

The Englishman has a gargantuan task to infiltrate consistently Tottenham’s first 11, but don’t count the 24-year-old out. He has a heart of a lion, is still only 24 years old and, with a bit of good fortune and an injection of confidence, can once again regain his spot on Spurs’ first 11.

Though he’ll certainly have to earn it to usurp one of the aforementioned midfielders, all of whom have earned their respective places in the first team.

Any rumours of Winks’ exodus should be taken with a grain of salt, as Mourinho will never again want to experience playing a rash of important matches with a depleted, shallow, shoestring squad.