Harry Winks Departs Tottenham Hotspur for Italy

Harry Winks has joined Italian side Sampdoria on a season-long loan from Tottenham Hotspur, with the option to make his move permanent, if his loan spell is successful in Serie A.

The club’s official website sampdoria.it revealed that:

"The U.C. Sampdoria announces that it has acquired on a temporary basis with option right (to sign permanently) from Tottenham Hotspur F.C. the sports performance rights of footballer Harry Winks (born in Hemel Hempstead, England, February 2, 1996).The midfielder has signed an economic contract until 30 June 2023."

Sampdoria has not had the best of starts this season, as they sit in 18th place in Serie A and are yet to win a game. The club will be hoping Winks is the man to sure up their midfield.

Is it the right move for Winks?

Winks has only played for Tottenham and in total, has made 203 appearances with five goals and six assists. He has never won a trophy at Spurs as he finished as a runner-up in the Champions League and the League Cup with them.

Last season, he only played 19 times in the Premier League; this season, he has not made any of the matchday squads. At the age of 26, he needs game time, and moving on from Antonio Conte’s side is the right thing to do.

The midfielder has 10 caps for England with one goal and two assists. However, he has not played since 2020, so would have a tough challenge ahead if he is to force his way back into Gareth Southgate’s side for the World Cup ahead.

Winks is predominantly a defensive midfielder and the Italians are known for disciplined defending, so moving to Sampdoria could be a perfect fit for him at this stage in his career.

Italy Is Becoming the Place to Be for English Players

At Sampdoria Winks joins fellow Englishman, Ronaldo Vieira, at the club. He has played for the Three Lions u21s.

Many other English players have moved to Serie A recently, including Tammy Abraham and Chris Smalling at AS Roma, while Fikayo Tomori has enjoyed success at AC Milan. All these players have won trophies during their time in Italy; Smalling and Abraham lifted the Europa Conference League last season while Tomori won the league.

Tomori and Abraham have impressed in Italy and earned recalls to the England squad with both players expected to be on the plane to Qatar. With their triumphs, we may see more English players heading to Italy to get regular playing time and experience a new culture.

There was a time in the 90s when moving to Italy was the norm for English players with Paul Gascoigne playing for Lazio, Paul Ince at Inter Milan, and David Platt playing for Bari, Juventus, and Sampdoria.

English fans will have fond memories of this era as it followed Italia 90 when their country got to the semi-finals of the World Cup. There was also a series on Channel 4 called Football Italia, which was presented by James Richardson.

Richardson now presents BT Sports coverage of Serie A. With the new influx of English players heading over to Italy, we could be in for another golden age of fans in England following Serie A.