Not even Jose Mourinho’s Hollywood grin can keep everybody satisfied and smiling.
The Tottenham Hotspur boss has little choice but to be ruthless in pursuit of glory and, while the likes of Harry Kane, Heung Min-Son and Tanguy Ndombele have taken their games to new levels this term, the lesser-spotted members of Spurs’ squad could be forgiven for pining for Mauricio Pochettino.
Here are three players whose time at Tottenham could be up in January.
Harry Winks
Is there any player who has benefitted less from Daniel Levy’s decision to replace Poch with one of the most successful managers of the modern era?
The ultimate jack of all trades, Winks’ inability to master any particular job looks set to cost him a key role in the most fearsome Tottenham squad in living memory.
The long-serving academy graduate lacks the muscle-bound belligerence of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, the selfless energy of Moussa Sissoko or the match-winning potential of Tanguy Ndombele. As a result, Winks now appears to be Mourinho’s fourth-choice midfielder; not an ideal situation when the European Championships are looming on the horizon.
Winks needs to play regularly to force his way into Gareth Southgate’s squad again. Fortunately, a man linked with a £50 million move to Manchester United and Manchester City recently should not be short of offers when the window opens.
He might not be Mourinho’s cup of tea but Winks is certainly a midfielder to Pep Guardiola’s more erudite tastes.
Davinson Sanchez
The phrase ‘cutting your losses’ comes to mind.
Spurs invested a club record £42 million fee in the leggy Colombian when they signed him from Ajax in 2017. But, even at the age of 24 and with nearly 100 Premier League appearances under his belt, Sanchez is still guilty of the kind of mistake you would more readily associate with a teenager barely out of the academy.
The former Ajax giant has not played a single second of top-flight football since his own goal against West Ham in October’s 3-3 capitulation. His performances in the Europa League, particularly in the defeat to Antwerp and the draw with LASK Linz, have left a lot to be desired too.
With youngsters Japhet Tanganga and Joe Rodon catching Mourinho’s eye, now may be the opportune time to recoup some of that £42 million investment.
Paulo Gazzaniga
The seldom-seen goalkeeper was handed a rare taste of first-team football last season. And, as Gazzaniga discovered, bread and butter doesn’t taste so sweet when you are used to caviar.
Mourinho was full of praise about the way the former Southampton stopper stepped up in Hugo Lloris’s injury-enforced absence in 2019/20. But the Spurs boss couldn’t resist bringing Joe Hart, and his bucket-load of medals, to North London over the summer.
Despite his ‘magic hands’, Gazzaniga has not featured in a single match-day squad this term and, at the age of 28, he cannot afford to waste his peak years in the stands.
Moves to Everton and Liverpool, who were both linked before the window slammed shut in October, appear unlikely now. But surely there is another Premier League club – or even a high-ranking Championship one – in need of a talented, hungry goalkeeper with an Argentina cap on his CV?
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