Winks: 'Staying in the team is the hardest part'

With over 100 first team appearances and a year he describes as “probably my best season so far at the club” under his belt, it’d be fair to consider Academy product Harry Winks an established first team player at this point in time.

Yet he knows the hard work is only just beginning.

Winksy goes into this summer’s pre-season period off the back of an eventful 2018/19 campaign that saw him feature 41 times in all competitions, striking up a fine midfield partnership with a resurgent Moussa Sissoko.

A 2014 debutant against Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League, the 23-year-old brought up his century of appearances in our first game back home – the new stadium curtain-raiser against Crystal Palace in April – and after a groin problem saw him miss the last few weeks of the Premier League season, he returned in time to start alongside Moussa in the Champions League Final against Liverpool in Madrid.

But typically of the grounded young man, he’s ready to get back down to business and work harder than ever to ensure he remains in and around the team in 2019/20.

“I had a relatively injury-free season last year until the end,” he said. “I played a lot of matches, started a lot of matches and it was incredible, probably my best season so far at the club.

“I feel I’ve become an important player now and I couldn’t ask for more. If you’d asked me three or four years ago if I wanted to be in this position now I would have snapped your hand off, but the most important thing now is not to get carried away, to work as hard as I can and try to stay in there and maintain that position because there are so many top players here.

“Staying in is the hardest. It’s fantastic to get there, but staying there is tough with so many top quality players at the club, all wanting to start.”