Opinion: Why I would be hesitant to sell Harry Winks this summer

There have been rumours circulating that Harry Winks may leave Tottenham Hotspur this summer, with Aston Villa said to be monitoring his situation (The Telegraph).

Many Spurs fans would be quite content to see him go as his 20/21 campaign was quite frankly, a disaster.

The 25-year-old managed just 15 PL appearances last season, only 9 of which were starts, meaning that most of his game time came in cup competitions like the Europa League.

He also failed to leave a lasting impression on Mourinho, who was rarely willing to dismantle the Ndombele-Hojbjerg duo that featured most often for the Lilywhites.

Several of Winks’ performances in 2020/21 were rather underwhelming; the pick of the bunch being his substitute appearance against Everton in the FA Cup.

He was brought on after 90 mins to add some fresh legs to the game, but only caused the team problems, dispossessed multiple times and was ultimately responsible for the goal that sent Tottenham crashing out of the competition.

On his day, Winks is capable of dominating the middle of the park against the reigning European champions if you recall his outstanding performance in the 3-1 win against Real Madrid in 2017. Clearly, he has lost a lot of confidence since then.

Oliver Skipp has emerged as another midfield option for Nuno Espirito Santo and may also have leapfrogged Winks in the pecking order following his exceptional campaign with Norwich and his showcases in the latest pre-season matches.

Nonetheless, I still believe Winks has something to offer to the club and could be quite useful in the Europa Conference League games and other cup competitions.

I no longer think he should be a top priority to sell considering the departure of Moussa Sissoko is seeming more and more likely and that doubts have been cast over record signing, Ndombele’s future also. This would leave our midfield options rather scarce if they were both to leave.

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