Harry Winks

Harry Billy Winks (born 2 February 1996) is an English professional footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for EFL Championship club Leicester City.

He has also previously played for the England national team.

A product of the Tottenham Hotspur academy, Winks made his debut for the senior side in 2014.

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 on 30 March 2014, remaining an unused substitute in a 4–0 loss at Anfield.

On 27 July 2014, Winks signed his first professional contract with Tottenham; according to Winks, Mauricio Pochettino 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 group against FK Partizan in a 1–0 home win at White Hart Lane, replacing 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.

On 27 August 2016, he made his Premier League debut, replacing Christian Eriksen in the last minute of the match in a 1–1 draw at home to Liverpool.

On 19 November, Winks made his full debut against West Ham United, 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.

Having appeared for England across various youth levels, Winks made his senior debut in 2017.

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 and was educated at Cavendish School.

Winks is a Tottenham Hotspur fan; he attended his first match at White Hart Lane when he was six.

He was invited to train at Tottenham's development centre in St Albans 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.

Winks is a product of the Tottenham Hotspur youth system.

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 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 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 tie against Barnsley that finished 1–0.

He next started in the match in UEFA Champions League away game against APOEL FC, and his performance earned him praise from Mauricio Pochettino 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) 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 where he was judged to have held his own against Luka Modrić and Toni Kroos.

However, he picked up a niggling ankle injury in the match against Crystal Palace 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.

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, appearing as a late substitute.

He made his first start of the season in the game against Liverpool that Spurs lost 2–1.

He went on to make 203 appearances and scoring five goals for the club, as well as starting in the 2019 UEFA Champions League final.

After a loan to Italian side Sampdoria, he departed Tottenham in 2023 after 21 years at the club, and subsequently joined newly-relegated Leicester City in the Championship.

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 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.