The Tottenham Hotspur talent could make his first start of the season against Barnsley.
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Harry Winks
Harry Winks could make his first start in six months when Tottenham Hotspur host Barnsley in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.
The Tottenham academy product enjoyed a breakthrough campaign last time out, before having his season curtailed by an ankle injury suffered at Burnley in April.
But it’s not just Spurs who could be given a sense of what they’ve been missing at Wembley, with Barnsley one of three clubs who tried to loan Winks at the start of last season, according to the Independent.
Barnsley manager Paul Heckingbottom
The same publication reported last year that the move was blocked by Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino.
Unlike fellow homegrown talents Harry Kane, Andros Townsend (now Crystal Palace) and Ryan Mason (now Hull), Winks has never spent time away from Spurs on loan.
And the Independent reported that the decision to keep the 21-year-old around was a result of his boss’s reluctance to see those he holds in high regard coached by anyone else – a policy he is said to have brought with him from Southampton.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino
The report also stated that if, after that, a player is deemed not good enough to play in the first team, only then will Pochettino allow him to leave.
But if Winks can rediscover the form he showed last season at Tottenham, he’ll not be going nowhere in a hurry.
Were Tottenham right not to have loaned Winks to Barnsley last season?
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