Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Harry Winks has taken to Instagram to release a statement to clarify comments that he had made an in an interview with the Italian media.
The midfielder found himself frozen out of Antonio Conte’s plans at Tottenham at the start of the season having been overlooked for the club’s pre-season tour of South Korea and subsequent friendlies and instead was one of four players who were told to train away from the rest of the first-team (Evening Standard).
Winks was quoted as telling the Gazzetta dello Sport.: “I can only focus on the next match, but I am proud to have made this choice. Nobody from Tottenham has contacted me, not even the coach. I was and am fully focusing on Sampdoria.”
The England international has a long-standing association with Tottenham having been at the club for over 20 years after joining as the academy system as a five-year old and has now tried to rectify the situation.
He has now insisted that his comments regarding a lack of contact from Tottenham were in relation to his fate for next season with the 27-year-old under contract in noth London until the summer of 2024 (transfermarkt).
Winks said in his Instagram story (16/3/23): ” I just wanted to clarify my comments about no contact from Spurs were in regards to plans for next season.
“There are still plenty of games left this season for both Sampdoria and Spurs and this has to be the full focus for both.
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“Having been at Spurs since the age of 5 I have nothing but respect for everyone at the Club.”
Winks’ loan spell at Sampdoria had turned into a nightmare for the first half of the 2022-23 season, with an ankle injury keeping him out of action but has since returned to action following surgery to be a regular in the starting eleven for the Serie A strugglers.
Sampdoria are reported to have a £22million option to make Winks’ loan deal permanent in the summer, however, this could hinge on retaining their top flight status as they currently battle against relegation to Serie B (Express).
SpursWeb Opinion
Winks has had a frustrating last couple of years having gone from holding down a place in the England squad to barely getting a loan deal out of the club in January. Despite the above statement, he should have thought twice about commenting about next season and instead focus on helping to keep Sampdoria up.
Whether he could have a future post-Conte remains to be seen, but if so, he needs to rediscover his forward-thinking game rather than the sideways/backwards play which frustrated many towards the end.
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