Rating every Leicester City summer signing - #2: Harry Winks
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Harry Winks was one of two new faces on day one of training at Seagrave ahead of the Championship season.
How many marks out of 10 did our writers give to the acquisition of a man with 10 England caps to his name?
Becky Taylor: 7.5
I'm very conflicted on Winks because I have never particularly rated him, but I do think he will do well here and we needed to bolster the midfield early.
I'm baffled he's only 27 as I feel like he's been around forever but that has given me some more confidence with him. He seems like the classic 'got a point to prove' signing and I'm hoping that's exactly what he does.
Adam Hodges: 7
James Maddison proudly showed Harry Winks's Spurs number 8 shirt among his collection on a social media post and Winks had plenty of admirers when breaking into the England team.
He is a decent replacement for the outgoing number 8 in Youri Tielemans but past injuries have affected him. There are also question marks after his loan at Sampdoria didn't result in a permanent move but this was possibly due to the team's relegation to Serie B. Should do well linking the play in the Championship.
David Bevan: 8
I’m not quite as enthusiastic about Winks as I am about Coady but I still think it’s a really good signing. If he stays fit, surely he’ll help us boss games at Championship level. And once that’s happened a few times we’ll forget the insanity of losing Youri Tielemans for free to Aston Villa and spending £10million on a worse player in the Championship. Ready to let that one go soon…
My main worry is we’re stuck with another midfielder in the mould of Dewsbury-Hall, Soumare and Praet who isn’t absolutely solid steel defensively but doesn’t score or assist either. We just have to wait and see how Maresca will set up the side and how Winks slots into that. I’m optimistic.
Iain Wright: 7.5
There is the old adage of not signing a player on the way down. However, Winks does look delighted to be here and if we can get him back going again then we've got a Champions League-standard player who be unbelievable in the Championship (and beyond hopefully).
Definitely worth the risk on the fee and wages just this once.
Andrew Smith: 6
Winks could go one of two ways.
Either he’s a supreme talent that’s been thwarted by the constant drama that is Tottenham Hotspur. Often replaced by more glamorous and expensive but no more effective teammates.
Or he just reached a ceiling which was never quite high enough to be a Premier League regular. Spurs-supporting friends tell me he’s reliable if unspectacular. Which will do me for now.
James Knight: 8.5
Like Andrew says, this is a proper Schrodinger’s signing. I’m pretty happy with it right now - he fits the bill as a midfielder good on the ball, something spectacularly lacking from the rest of the squad, and he seems like a nice young man - but there are a few red flags that could have us all writing seething anti-Rudkin posts again in a few months time.
My very own Spurs-supporting friend said he could never work out if he was a tidy enough player or a “complete gutless coward”. Add that to the injury record and the general air of Spurs about him and it sounds like he should be playing in last year’s team. But, for now, I’m giddy with excitement at the bold new era.
