Harry Billy Winks (born 2 February 1996) is an English professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
who plays as a
central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
or
defensive midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
for
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...
club
Sampdoria
Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa.
The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...
, on
loan
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...
from
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
club
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
. He has represented
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
at international level from youth to senior level, most recently in 2020.
Early and personal life
Harry Winks was born to Anita and Gary Winks. He has Spanish ancestry through his maternal grandparents. He was born and raised in
Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500.
Developed after the Second World War as a ne ...
and was educated at
Cavendish School. Winks is a
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
fan; he attended his first match at
White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...
when he was six. He was invited to train at Tottenham's development centre in
St Albans
St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...
after attending a summer football camp run by an academy coach when he was five, and joined the Tottenham Academy at the age of five.
Club career
Tottenham Hotspur
Early career
Winks is a product of the Tottenham Hotspur youth system. During the
2013–14 season, he regularly trained with the first-team squad and was named on the senior bench for the first time in a Premier League tie against
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
on 30 March 2014, remaining an unused substitute in a 4–0 loss at
Anfield
Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...
. On 27 July 2014, Winks signed his first professional contract with Tottenham; according to Winks,
Mauricio Pochettino
Mauricio Roberto Pochettino Trossero (; born 2 March 1972) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the head coach of Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain.
Pochettino played as a central defender and b ...
said that he wanted to sign Winks immediately after watching videos of his performances.
He made his first team debut on 27 November 2014 in the
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...
group against
FK Partizan
Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; en, Partizan Football Club), sometimes known as Partizan Belgrade in English, is a Serbia, Serbian professional football club (association football), football ...
in a 1–0 home win at
White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...
, replacing
Paulinho Paulinho is a Portuguese nickname for people named ''Paulo'' (Paulo -inho, little Paulo). People known as Paulinho include:
Music
*Paulinho da Costa (born 1948), Brazilian percussionist
*Paulinho da Viola (born 1942), Brazilian sambista
*Paulinho ...
after 87 minutes.
On 6 July 2015, Winks signed a new contract with Tottenham until 2018, with the option of an additional year. He was given the number 29 shirt, which was included on the club's list of first-team numbers. Winks made his first appearance of the season as a late substitute in a 3–1 win against
Qarabağ FK.
2016–2018
On 27 August 2016, he made his Premier League debut, replacing
Christian Eriksen
Christian Dannemann Eriksen (born 14 February 1992) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Manchester United and the Denmark national team. He is renowned for his vision, technique, passing, and fre ...
in the last minute of the match in a 1–1 draw at home to
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. On 19 November, Winks made his full debut against
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
, performing well and scoring his first ever goal for Spurs to level the match at 1–1. Tottenham went on to win the match 3–2 in a dramatic finish at White Hart Lane after scoring two late goals. Winks made his debut in the FA Cup on 8 January 2017, when he was selected for the team in the match against
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
of the third round. Tottenham went on to win the match 2–0. On 14 February 2017, Winks signed a new contract with Tottenham, keeping him at the club until 2022. During an away match against
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
on 1 April 2017 in the Premier League, Winks suffered an injury when he tumbled into the Burnley dugout, and was later taken to hospital for a scan on his ankle. Spurs announced on 4 April that Winks would be sidelined by the injury to his ankle ligament for the rest of the season.
Winks began the
2017–18 season as substitutes in three early games after recovering from his injury. He made his first start of the season in the
EFL Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
tie against
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
that finished 1–0. He next started in the match in
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
away game against
APOEL FC
APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...
, and his performance earned him praise from
Mauricio Pochettino
Mauricio Roberto Pochettino Trossero (; born 2 March 1972) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the head coach of Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain.
Pochettino played as a central defender and b ...
as the "perfect midfielder".
After only one previous start in the Premier League for the club this season (in a 4–0 win against
Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...
) and four Premier League starts including last season, he gained his first call-up for the national squad. He received plaudits for his performance in the UEFA Champions League game away against
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
where he was judged to have held his own against
Luka Modrić
Luka Modrić (; born 9 September 1985) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid and captains the Croatia national team. He plays mainly as a central midfielder, but can also play as an a ...
and
Toni Kroos
Toni Kroos (born 4 January 1990) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid. Kroos plays mainly as a central midfielder, but has also been deployed as a deep-lying playmaker in his career. He is kn ...
. However, he picked up a niggling ankle injury in the match against
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
on 5 November 2017, which led to him missing final three months of this season after trying initially to play some games through the discomfort. He signed a new contract on 17 May 2018, keeping him at Tottenham until 2023.
2018–2021
After a long period out through an injury that required surgery, Winks returned to the squad in the
2018–19 season in the home game against
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
, appearing as a late substitute. He made his first start of the season in the game against Liverpool that Spurs lost 2–1. In the away match against Fulham in January 2019, he scored a last minute winning goal to win 2–1, his first goal for the club since November 2016. On 1 June 2019, Winks started in the
2019 UEFA Champions League Final against Liverpool.
Winks signed a new five-year contract with Tottenham in July 2019.
Winks scored his first goal of the
2020–21 season, his first for Tottenham in nearly two years, in the
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...
match against the Bulgarian side
Ludogorets Razgrad to help Tottenham win 4–0. He hit the back of the net from 54 yards away, one of the longest goals ever scored in the Europa League, which he said was not intentional.
Loan to Sampdoria
On 30 August 2022, Winks joined
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...
club
Sampdoria
Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa.
The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...
on
loan
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...
for the
2022–23 season, with an option for the transfer to become permanent.
International career
![France - England U19, 20150331 51](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/France_-_England_U19%2C_20150331_51.jpg)
Winks has represented England up to senior level. Before this, he was eligible to represent
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
as well as England. He was part of the
under-20 squad for the Mercedes-Benz Elite Cup in Germany in 2015. Winks made his
under-21 debut on 14 November 2016 where he started in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
's friendly 3–2 defeat to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
On 2 October 2017, Winks received his first call up to the
senior England squad, for their
2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
and
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
. He made his debut when starting in England's 1–0 away win over Lithuania, which was the team's final match in their successful 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. Phil McNulty of BBC Sport stated that, on the night, Winks was "England's best performer. Neat and tidy and almost scored. Eye-catching among so much mediocrity". Winks missed the
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
due to injury, but returned to the England squad in the
2018–19 UEFA Nations League away match against Spain. He helped England to a 3–2 win, the first competitive home defeat for Spain since 2003 and England's first win in Spain in 31 years, in what was judged a "self-assured" performance.
Winks scored his first goal for England on 17 November 2019 in a 4–0 win against
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
in
UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
The UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2019 to November 2020 to determine the 24 UEFA member men's national teams that advanced to the UEFA Euro 2020 final tournament, played across Europe ...
.
Style of play
Winks plays as a
central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
or
defensive midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
. Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has said "When we talk about midfielders – because you like to use Spanish midfielders like
Xavi
Xavier Hernández Creus (born 25 January 1980), known as Xavi is a Spanish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the manager of La Liga club FC Barcelona, Barcelona. Widely con ...
and
Iniesta – he's like this type of player",
describing Winks as "completely different to our other midfielders like
Victor Wanyama
Victor Mugubi Wanyama (; born 25 June 1991) is a Kenyan professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Major League Soccer club CF Montréal and the Kenyan national team.
Wanyama became the first ever Kenyan player to scor ...
,
Eric Dier
Eric Jeremy Edgar Dier (born 15 January 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays for club Tottenham Hotspur and the England national team. A versatile defensive player, Dier has been deployed as a defensive midfielder, a centre-b ...
,
Mousa Dembélé and
Moussa Sissoko
Moussa Sissoko (born 16 August 1989) is a French professional footballer who plays as midfielder for club Nantes and the France national team. He plays as a box-to-box midfielder in the centre of the pitch, and is capable of playing in eit ...
. He has qualities to add to the team that are completely different".
''
Talksport'' remarked that following his breakthrough for club and country, Winks was "seen as a potential difference-maker for the Three Lions due to his very individual skill set", with Winks earning comparisons with foreign midfielders rather than his English contemporaries.
Ex-England and Spurs midfielder
Danny Murphy said in September 2018 that the England team should be built around Winks, citing his performance for Tottenham against Real Madrid in the
2017–18 UEFA Champions League group stage The 2017–18 UEFA Champions League group stage began on 12 September and ended on 6 December 2017. A total of 32 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 16 places in the knockout phase of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League.
Draw
The draw ...
as evidence: "The one who I think has got the capability, more than anyone else I have seen, is
arry Arry is the name of the following communes in France:
* Arry, Moselle, in the Moselle department
* Arry, Somme, in the Somme department
'Arry is also a nickname, an example of H dropping
''H''-dropping or aitch-dropping is the deletion of the ...
Winks. What he showed in that game in Madrid, in both games when he was fit and at it, was a confidence and an ability to play. To see the passes, to get his foot in and be disciplined and mix that mix of midfield talent that you need
..for me, Winks is one of the best I've seen when he's at it – in terms of his all-round ability." ''
ESPN FC
ESPN FC (formerly ESPN SoccerNet) is a website and a U.S. television studio program covering soccer that is broadcast daily over the streaming service ESPN+. ESPN FC's origin was a website owned by ESPN Inc. Originally established in 1995 as Soc ...
''s Ben Pearce opined in 2018: "England are still missing a
deep-lying playmaker
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
..Those wondering who could possibly fill the void have obviously forgotten Winks, who excels at keeping possession with quick, short passes".
Career statistics
Club
International
:''England score listed first, score column indicates score after each Winks goal''
[
]
Honours
Tottenham Hotspur
*UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
runner-up: 2018–19
*EFL Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
runner-up: 2020–21
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
References
External links
Profile
at the Tottenham Hotspur F.C. website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winks, Harry
1996 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Hemel Hempstead
Footballers from Hertfordshire
English footballers
Association football midfielders
Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players
U.C. Sampdoria players
Premier League players
England youth international footballers
England under-21 international footballers
England international footballers
English expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Italy
English expatriate sportspeople in Italy
English people of Spanish descent