Tottenham Hotspur warned Harry Winks could leave due to lack of minutes
Tottenham Hotspur have been issued a warning that Harry Winks could leave them because of a lack of minutes in the summer transfer window. He has not been able to garner much game time over the past two months or so, which has pushed his future into uncertain waters.
Winks has seen his minutes dwindle following Rodrigo Bentancur’s arrival in the January transfer window. The latter has been excellent in recent weeks, and the academy graduate’s role has largely been reduced to a squad player at this moment.
Paul Robinson, who played for Tottenham as a goalkeeper between 2004 and 2008, has chipped in with his thoughts on the matter. Speaking in an interview with Football Insider (h/t Football.London), Robinson has conveyed that Winks needs to be playing week in week out at this point in his playing career.
“Winks has found it hard to get into the team. It looks like the time has come for him to move on. He needs to be playing every week given the stage he is at in his career. He needs a manager who will show him a bit of love and play him every week.”
Summer departure?
The 26-year-old has found it a real challenge to fight for a starting spot in the midfield. That has been the case following Bentancur’s winter arrival as the former has fallen down the pecking order. What makes matters worse is how the North Londoners have only the Premier League top four places to fight for right now.
That means Antonio Conte can afford to keep using his trusted duo in Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Bentancur as the midfield pairing. Things would get even more difficult for Winks when Oliver Skipp eventually returns to action, as Skipp has been one of the boss’ favourites.
That being said, we must manage the minutes better so that Winks would not push for an exit at the end of this term. After all, we would need his services next season when we eventually would play in several competitions throughout the campaign. Having just three midfielders would be dangerous in such a case, even if Conte’s formation uses just two of them at once.
After all, an injury or a suspension could make matters worse for us if the PL ace does leave us in the near future. Hence, we must keep him happy by giving him minutes wherever possible. With the new substitution change that will be implemented from the next season, Conte can afford to use more players from his bench.
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Hence, Winks could potentially gain more prominence in the team. Until then, we must keep him happy as much as possible by giving him minutes whenever possible. Whether that will happen or not, though, remains to be seen.
The 26-year-old currently has 9 starts in the league this season and has clearly become a bench player rather than a fixture in the starting XI. Having started in the UEFA Champions League against Liverpool under Mauricio Pochettino, his career certainly hasn’t gone uphill since then.
