10 young players to watch
By James Dudko
6. Harry Winks, midfielder, Tottenham
Harry Winks has an excellent chance to continue making strides in Tottenham’s first team this season. The 21-year-old will benefit from being at a club seemingly prepared to shun spending for player development.
Spurs are yet to make a first-team signing in this summer’s transfer market at the time of writing. It’s an approach applauded by some members of the press, including Matt Law of the Daily Telegraph:
Pochettino deserves a lot of praise for wanting to make the Tottenham players he has better, rather than just wanting to buy new ones.
— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) July 20, 2017
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has also talked up the north London outfit’s willingness to give youngsters a chance, per BBC Sport:
"Our position on transfers is that we have a coach who very much believes in the academy, so unless we can find a player that makes a difference we would rather give one of our young academy players a chance."
It all adds up to increased playing time for Winks. The midfielder found the net in a preseason defeat to Serie A side AS Roma, per Tom Dutton of the London Evening Standard, as he continues to catch the eye.
In fact, Winks has even drawn comparisons to Barcelona pass-master Andres Iniesta, at least in the eyes of Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino, according to Steve Bates of the Daily Mirror:
"For in Pochettino’s eyes the 21-year-old Tottenham star is such a gem insiders say he privately calls Winks his ‘Little Iniesta’ in homage to the Barcelona midfielder who has been at the heart of the Nou Camp success for a decade and a half."
Possessing the creativity and vision common to Iniesta’s game will help Winks play more often this season. He can provide the technique and skill sometimes missing from the heart of Tottenham’s midfield when Pochettino deploys dual destroyers Eric Dier and Victor Wanyama.
Spurs will only vindicate their cautious transfer policy if youngsters such as Winks make the grade.