When sifting through clips of the latest player to be linked with a move to Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur, it’s striking how much Manuel Ugarte seems to resemble one Harry Winks. And we don’t just mean stylistically-speaking, either.
Ugarte is two inches taller than Winks, but shares the England international’s casually-ruffled brown hair and dark complexion. The similarities are more than merely skin deep too.
Ugarte is a deep-lying central midfielder who loves to hassle and harry opposition players, breaking up the play while carrying it forward. He squirrels and swivels his way through the tightest of gaps. And, as far as his distribution goes, the 21-year-old Uruguay international tends to keep things simple; neat and tidy rather than overly-ambitious.
A lot like Winks in the Mauricio Pochettino heyday then; circa-2019.
A 92 per cent pass completion rate for Sporting Lisbon in this season’s Portuguese Primeira Liga highlights Ugarte’s quality in possession (WhoScored). He’s pretty useful without the ball too. No player in the Champions League group-stages has completed more than Ugarte’s frankly ludicrous 7.5 interceptions per game. Only centre-half Eric Bailly has more tackles (five per match).
Manuel Ugarte in, Harry Winks out at Tottenham Hotspur?
According to Portuguese publication Record, Antonio Conte discussed Ugarte with Uruguay team-mate Rodrigo Bentancur after Spurs’ 2-0 defeat to Sporting in the Estadio Jose Alvalade, with a view to potentially bringing the former Famalicao enforcer to the Premier League in the New Year.
And it’s fitting, in some ways, that Ugarte’s potential arrival could spell the end for Winks. Or, at least, add another proverbial straw to this particular camel’s already exhaustive workload.
“As soon as he can, he will take the field,” Sampdoria president Marco Lanna says of Winks.
The Serie A outfit signed Tottenham’s number eight on loan last month.
“He is a guy who really wants to prove to Tottenham that they made a mistake,” Lanna adds.
Sampdoria can sign Winks permanently for £20 million (Fabrizio Romano). That would make him their most expensive-ever signing. The costs involved, however, make it more likely than not that he’ll be back in North London when his Samp spell comes to an end.
But the fact that Tottenham are willing to include a purchase-clause in Winks’ contract, while making notes on Ugarte’s progress, doesn’t exactly paint the picture of a club who feel they made a ‘mistake’ letting the academy graduate go.
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