Harry Winks has opened up on the mental struggles he faced when he was out injured during the first half of the campaign and admitted that he is over the moon to now finally be getting regular minutes under his belt.
When Winks completed a loan move to Sampdoria last summer, the midfielder would have hoped to get his career back on track after his struggles to get game time at Tottenham over the previous couple of years.
However, the England international was sidelined with an ankle injury for the entire first part of the season before eventually deciding to have surgery to fix the problem back in November.
The 27-year-old finally made his long-awaited debut for Sampdoria last month and has since gone on to make five appearances, having started the last four matches (Tranfermarkt).
The on-loan Spurs man has been growing in confidence with each game and delivered his best display so far in the 0-0 draw with Inter Milan on Monday.
Speaking after the draw against the Nerazzurri, Winks told The Daily Mail: “It has taken me a while. I’ve been out for six months.
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“Not training and then coming in for a session and then having to go back out with the ankle, it was a nightmare so to come back and feel good, like I do, to feel 100 per cent is all I wanted really.
“It will take time to get back to full match fitness. That’s four full 90 minutes in a row and it’s what I need to build fitness and get back to form. Sampdoria has shown massive faith in me.
“They signed me to play and for the first half of the season it was really difficult for me and the club but they stuck with me and I want to repay that faith and appreciation they’ve shown me. Every time I get on the pitch I want to do everything I can to help save this club, to keep this club in Serie A.
“It’s a new team but everyone’s integrating slowly. We’re going in the right direction and I love it. I enjoy playing for a team with so much history. It’s a huge club and you can feel that.
“Everybody knows it’s a difficult time at the moment, but every time I get an opportunity I will play as hard as I can because I’m grateful for the love and respect they’ve shown me since I first arrived.”
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I always thought that Winks would thrive in Serie A since he will get more time on the ball and the 27-year-old is now starting to show his qualities.
Even if Sampdoria do not manage to stay up, there is likely to be plenty of interest in the England international from Italian clubs in the summer if he maintains the same standard of performance over the coming months.
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