Mauricio Pochettino says Harry Winks is “the perfect midfielder” and offers different qualities to his other options.

The 21-year-old enjoyed a breakthrough season last term, making 33 appearances before suffering an ankle ligament injury at Burnley at the start of April.

The pain has only recently disappeared entirely, limiting Winks’ game time at the start of the season – but he has been able to start two of Spurs’ last three matches.

Having shaken off some rust against Barnsley in the League Cup last week, he seemed to be returning to his best form during Tuesday’s 3-0 Champions League victory over Apoel Nicosia in Cyprus.

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Pochettino said: “For me he’s the perfect midfielder, who can play box to box or like a holding midfielder. He has the quality and the capacity to play and use the manner of the game and read it.

“He’s so clever and we’re so happy that he starts to feel better now, because he provides to the team qualities that we don’t have.

“I think he’s completely different to other midfielders like [Victor] Wanyama, Eric Dier, Mousa Dembele or [Moussa] Sissoko. The qualities he can add to the team are completely different.

“We celebrate that, because we have the possibility to have him in the team and that provides more quality and more options to play, to use a different way to play.





“He is working so hard after his injury last season and has started to recover his best feelings. I think he was fantastic against Barnsley in the Carabao Cup and the same against Apoel. He started playing in his best.”

Nonetheless, Pochettino has hinted Winks may be benched at Huddersfield Town tomorrow.

“We must be careful with him because after a lot of time without competition, [it’s important] to provide him with good rest,” said Spurs’ manager.

“It’s not the same when you have a proper pre-season and you’re fit. It’s completely different for him, when he’s doing different jobs to get as fit as possible.

“We need to try to give [him] the best solution to try to keep that level, and then to be regular and have the possibility to play more.”

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