Harry Winks is one of the emerging stars of the Premier League but his talent first began to shine on a far less glamorous stage.

The Faroe Islands have little football tradition. The population is about 50,000 and the senior national team have won only 11 competitive matches. So when the Nordic Under-17 tournament took place there in 2012, it did not figure prominently on the radar of the global game.

Winks, then 16, was part of the England squad that travelled to the competition, and were beaten in the final by Sweden. The coach, Kenny Swain, wanted every player in the 18-man party to start at least one of the four games, meaning Winks was left on the bench for the final.

It was no reflection on his performances, as Winks had excelled until then, quickly earning the admiration and affection of a group that included Winks’ current Spurs team-mate Dele Alli, Jordan Rossiter — then of Liverpool, now at Rangers — and Lewis Cook, who joined Bournemouth from Leeds last summer.

With England struggling in the second half, Swain sent Winks to warm up. “He went running up the touchline and immediately the other players on the bench were lifted and started shouting ‘Go on, Harry!” Swain told Standard Sport. “I remember it vividly. They knew how important he had become to the team. Dele and [Arsenal’s] Alex Iwobi were in the same age group as Harry, but Harry was the one who made the teams play.

“He was a great team member, a diamond personality, with a real thirst for learning and training. When he scored against West Ham in November (Winks’ first senior goal), I was out of my seat.

“But the challenge for English kids playing in the Premier League today takes my breath away. They have not only to get into the side, but to stay in it — at clubs who can buy some of the best players in the world.

“People say there is not enough talent in the English game but look who they are competing against — the elite from every country. But Sir Alex Ferguson used to say that desire was the most important quality in players, and Harry is like a dog with a bone. He will not let this chance go. He is still developing and there is plenty more to come from him, especially physically.”

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Winks benefited by continuing to play school football while training at Tottenham. He attended Cavendish secondary school in his home town, Hemel Hempstead, where he still lives, in his own flat close to the home of his parents, Anita and Gary. The midfielder is less than 5ft 8ins tall yet was still a proficient basketball player during his time at Cavendish, which now works in partnership with Spurs to provide a full-time sports programme for students. He also showed a natural aptitude for middle-distance running and occasionally played rugby union. Many boys who are signed early in their lives by top clubs are discouraged from representing school or local teams, sometimes to their detriment. This was not the case for Winks, as Danny Allen, head of PE at Cavendish, explains.

“I think it helped him that he carried on playing for the school,” argues Allen. “He played about 10 games a season for us, when he did not have his Tottenham commitments. He would come to the weekly training session and it meant he could just enjoy the game for its own sake, playing with his mates.”

Winks is just one former pupil who has reached professional sport. Stoke goalkeeper Lee Grant went there, as did rugby league players Dan Sarginson and Kieran Dixon. Tottenham academy goalkeeper Brandon Austin also attended the Cavendish.

Winks is on course to be the most famous student, however. He was spotted by Mauricio Pochettino soon after the Argentine took charge in May 2014, and was quickly invited to join first-team training sessions.

He made his debut in a 1-0 win over Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League in November 2014 and played twice in that competition last term, against Qarabag and Fiorentina.

This season, though, Winks is making his mark. The 20-year-old, who is represented by Rob Segal of Impact Sports, who also have Alli on their client list, has made 22 appearances but, more importantly, he has won the absolute trust of Pochettino.

When he scored in that 3-2 win over West Ham, Winks raced towards Pochettino and the pair embraced. Yet his first thought had been to pick out his parents, watching from an executive box in the upper tier of the West Stand. He started the decisive Champions League tie in Monaco in November, where Tottenham were beaten but Winks played well. And when Toby Alderweireld was injured during the 2-2 draw at Manchester City last Saturday, Pochettino was happy to replace him with Winks.

When Nigel Gibbs, now assistant manager at Swansea, took a development role at Spurs in August 2015, Winks was already spending most of his time with the first team. “He might have wanted to go on loan in that period,” recalls Gibbs.

“But whenever he played for the development sides, he showed the same character and application as he would in the first team. What Harry has done, and others before him, shows academy players at Spurs that the pathway is there.”



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