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Don’t give up on Tottenham Hotspur midfielder quite yet

By Gary Pearson

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 24: Harry Winks of Tottenham Hotspur runs with the ball during the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 match between Tottenham Hotspur and Wolfsberger AC at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on February 24, 2021 in London, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 24: Harry Winks of Tottenham Hotspur runs with the ball during the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 match between Tottenham Hotspur and Wolfsberger AC at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on February 24, 2021 in London, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /
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Harry Winks’ career in the last year has suffered severe decay, so is it time to give up on the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder?

Winks’ deterioration has seen him turn from asset to liability, all within the span of a calendar year. The Englishman enjoyed his best two seasons from 2018 to 2020, in which he made 26 and 31 top flight appearances, respectively.

He was a permanent fixture in Mauricio Pochettino and Jose Mourinho’s team. Also a constant starter for the Three Lions, there was no ceiling to how far Winks could ascend. At that point he was a hot commodity, valued at over £30 million. Not even considered for England’s 33-man provisional Euro 2020 squad, his value has halved in less just over two years, highlighting the steep degree of’ decline.

Winks, aside from a six-day injury in November, managed to stay healthy this season, making his recent rot all the more curious.

Struggling to make Mourinho’s starting 11 toward the tail end of the gaffer’s tenure, Winks fell significantly off the pace and endured a wholesale confidence drain. He was, by all intents and purposes, a lame duck.

When he was named to the starting 11, Winks repeatedly failed to impress. Slow, hesitant, error prone and cumbersome, the 25-year-old was in every way the polar opposite of his best self.

He fell way down the pecking order, but has the fortune, with a new manager coming in, of a blank canvas to work from. A year or two ago most people would have picked Winks as one of the fundamental players in Tottenham’s rebuild. That is no longer the case. 

He’s fallen so far down the pecking order that rumours of his imminent exit from the club are circulating. 

If Winks is given the chance to prove himself one more time at Spurs, the new manager will be integral in trying to somehow motivate the midfielder to his pre-Mourinho form. He might not be given that chance, though.

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It’s still not too late for Winks to turn his career around at his boyhood club. He is still only 25 years old and could climb out of the trench he’s dug himself. With a surge in confidence, he might be able to restore the self belief he needs to pave a path to redemption.

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