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‘I wasn’t playing’… 28-year-old enjoying football again after quitting Tottenham, he’s top of the league
Harry Winks simply had to leave Tottenham Hotspur.
The dream of any academy player is to become a first-team star and a fan favourite for years to come.
Harry Kane did that at Tottenham Hotspur, but not everybody can become Harry Kane.
Others come into the side and show promising signs but fizzle out and almost become forgotten men.
That was certainly the case with Harry Winks, who scored on his first start for Tottenham against West Ham United way back in 2016.
Winks looked like becoming a key part of the Tottenham side but he now finds himself at Leicester City instead…
Harry Winks on Tottenham exit
Winks was gradually phased out of the side and spent the second half of last season on loan at Sampdoria in Italy.
The 28-year-old experienced relegation before heading back to Tottenham, where it was clear he simply had no future.
Winks ended up completing a move to Leicester City with James Maddison heading in the opposite direction.
Winks has played a key role under Enzo Maresca at Leicester, who are running away with the Championship title.
A Premier League return is on the horizon for Winks and he has now reflected on his Tottenham exit.
Winks has told that the final ‘two or three years’ of his Tottenham career were really tough, going from an amazing experience to one of real difficulty.
Winks noted that he didn’t feel important at Tottenham and lost love for the game during his battles for first-team action.
Not playing and even being left out of squads really hurt Winks as his Tottenham career became tricky.
Now thriving at Leicester, Winks is enjoying his football more than ever and it took leaving Tottenham to make that happen.
“Maybe the last two or three years of my time at Spurs was tough, but before that it was amazing and I loved every minute,” Winks said. “I learned a lot from that as well, it definitely develops your character when you don’t play as regularly and you don’t feel as important. But again I wouldn’t want to change it for anything, I’ve learned so much along the way in my career and it makes you enjoy the highs more when you’ve been through that.”
“I probably did lose a little bit of love for it in the last couple of years when I wasn’t playing and left out of squads and things like that. It’s difficult to find that love for it, but once you make the brave decision to leave and go to Italy and try to find it there, which I did, and to come here… now it is probably the most I’ve ever enjoyed football in my career,” he added.
Winks just wouldn’t have played regularly at Tottenham this season and he simply had to move on.
A move to Leicester has been perfect too as Maresca’s style of play suits him much better than the likes of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte in years gone by.
Winks is now nearing a Premier League comeback and surely can’t wait to face Tottenham as he attempts to show Spurs what they are missing.