It’s not been a straightforward season for Tottenham Hotspur this year.
Ange Postecoglou’s side have alternated from looking like one of the best teams in the country, to one that handed Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town their first wins of the Premier League campaign.
The Australian has been able to turn his team into great entertainers, but that is also down to the fact that it’s hard to know which team will turn up on any given day.
It could be argued that the forward-thinking coach could use one of the first players he sold when he took the reins last summer, a player who’s been touted for a return to the England set-up by Gary Neville.
Spurs' 2023 summer departures
Before getting to the in-form player in question, let’s examine a few other Spurs stars sold in Postecoglou’s first summer, starting with the big one, Harry Kane.
Yes, after years of speculation, the England captain finally left North London last summer, but instead of remaining in the country, he joined German behemoths Bayern Munich for a fee said to be £86.4m.
The Lilywhites legend left the club with an unreal haul of 280 goals and 61 assists in 435 games, and while he’s already scored 61 goals and provided 21 assists in 61 appearances for the Bavarians, he is still yet to win his first trophy as an invincible Bayer Leverkusen finally pipped FC Hollywood to the throne last year.
Now, someone who didn’t leave with as much fanfare was Lucas Moura, who rejoined boyhood side São Paulo on a free after making 221 appearances for the North Londoners over five and a half seasons, in which he scored 39 goals, provided 27 assists and gave the fans that night in Amsterdam.
Since returning to Brazil, the 32-year-old has been in fine form and currently has 13 goals and nine assists to his name in 43 games this season, and was recalled to the Brazil squad and played in the World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay in September.
However, he might not be the only Spurs ace sold last summer to be recalled to their national team in the near future.
The former Spurs star Postecoglou must regret selling
Many former and current Spurs stars have been or still are part of the England set-up, such as Eric Dier, Kane, James Maddison, and now Dominic Solanke.
However, the player Neville believes should be a part of the England squad, and Postecoglou could regret selling last summer, is Harry Winks.
The Australian and Daniel Levy opted to cash in on the 28-year-old midfielder when Leicester City came in with an offer worth £10m, and while that looked like good business at the time, it’s starting to look less so this season.
After playing a crucial role in securing immediate promotion back to the Premier League, the Hemel Hempstead-born “Rolls-Royce”, as dubbed by former professional Ian Baraclough, has continued his fine form into this one, so much so that there are reports that the Lilywhites may be interested in re-signing him in 2025.
If true, it’s not hard to see why, as not only has he already racked up three assists and one goal in just 11 appearances, primarily from defensive midfield, but his underlying numbers are seriously impressive when compared to the North Londoners’ defensive midfielders.
Non-Penalty xG+As
0.13
0.13
0.10
Actual Non-Penalty G+As
0.38
0.25
0.40
Assists
0.29
0.13
0.00
Shots on Target
0.29
0.25
0.40
Passing Accuracy
86.5%
91.0%
91.4%
Key Passes
1.37
0.34
0.68
Crosses into the Penalty Area
0.21
0.00
0.00
Shot-Creating Actions
2.74
2.52
1.80
Goal-Creating Actions
0.32
0.00
0.00
Tackles Won
0.67
1.77
1.80
Blocks
1.05
0.85
0.91
Dispossessed
0.32
0.68
0.91
Fouls
0.57
1.77
1.20
Ball Recoveries
5.79
7.12
3.64
For example, while he comes out second or third best in some metrics against Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur, he comes out ahead in others, including but not limited to assists, key passes, crosses into the penalty area, shot and goal-creating actions, blocks and more, all per 90.
Ultimately, it might not be a popular opinion, and Winks might not make it back into the Three Lions set-up under Thomas Tuchel, but he has shown this season that the Premier League is where he belongs.
Moreover, when looking at his raw output and underlying numbers, it certainly looks like he could be doing a job for Postecoglou and Spurs right about now.
Their next Dele Alli: Spurs want to sign "incredible" Mikey Moore rival
The sensational attacker would be another exciting addition to Spurs’ young squad.
1 ByJack Salveson Holmes
