Can this Tottenham youngster become a Spurs and England talisman?

After a long-term injury and major surgery, Harry Winks is finally fit and back in the Tottenham first team set up.

This will mark Winks’ first real full season as a Spurs first team regular, and fans will be excited to see what the young England international can deliver.

Harry Winks is a Tottenham fan since birth, attending his first game at the age of six, and joining the Spurs academy at the age of eight.

On August 27, 2016, Winks made his Premier League debut for the club, a last-minute substitution at home to Liverpool.

Come November 19 of the same year, the young midfielder found himself making his full debut against West Ham at the Lane, a game in which he would also score his first goal for his boyhood club.

After becoming a somewhat regular in and around the Tottenham first team, in October 2017, Winks received his first call up to the England senior team, despite also being eligible for the Spanish side.

He made his first start against Lithuania in a 1-0 England win, and the BBC stated that: “Winks was England’s best performer. Neat and tidy and almost scored. Eye-catching among so much mediocrity.”

After 61 appearances for Tottenham now, Winks is far from an inexperienced youngster, and will be ready to take the next steps and leaps in his career this campaign.

Part of Winks’ allure is his sheer passion and commitment to the white jersey of Tottenham Hotspur, he’s a young player who knows what it means to wear the badge.

Much like Harry Kane, this also provides a sense of unwavering loyalty to the club. He wants to win trophies, and he wants to do it here.

But can Winks step up and be the player that every Spurs and England fan alike wants him to be?

So many have promised so much in the past, and delivered so little, Jack Wilshere being the prime central midfield example.

On a Spurs front, Dembele, although hypnotically brilliant, is an ageing player, and won’t be around forever. The power Belgian was actually linked with a move away from the club this summer, and only has another couple of seasons on his contract.

Winks could prove to be that linchpin replacement that Spurs crave. A player to pick up the ball from deep within his own half and have the composure and talent to drive it forward, with a great range of passing and ability on the ball.

The most attractive thing about Winks’ game is his unrelenting positivity on the ball, he’s always looking for that direct, killer, forward pass. It’s very rare to see the young man spray the ball sideways or back to his defenders.

It isn’t just Tottenham who are in dire need of this kind of talent, but England as well. Despite an awesome performance at the World Cup, the England team didn’t really have any kind of like-for-like replacement for Henderson in the middle of the park.

Don’t get me wrong, the Liverpool man was a stand out performer in an already high-class England team, but you feel that he could have used an extra breather from time to time.

If not for his injury, you would think that Harry Winks would have been a nailed-on certainty for the Russia World Cup squad, perhaps in the place of Danny Welbeck or Fabian Delph.

So, will the academy graduate be able to step up and claim a first team spot at both club level and internationally this season? We hope so.

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