Harry Winks has claimed that nobody at Tottenham, including manager Antonio Conte, has contacted him since he left the club for a season-long loan spell in Italy.
The 27-year-old midfielder, who was far from a first-team regular in North London last season, was allowed to join Serie A side Sampdoria ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.
Unfortunately, he failed to get any game time at the start of his loan spell after picking up a serious ankle injury.
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But to his credit, Winks bounced back after surgery and made his first competitive appearance in 239 days in January. In fact, he is now a first team regular at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
Winks, who has played 90 minutes of every league game since his return in January against Empoli, has opened up about his spell at Sampdoria in a recent interview, saying he is "indebted" to the club for their support.
But he also made a damning claim about parent club Tottenham.
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Speaking to Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport, the Spurs youth product said: "I am on loan until the end of the season, I am satisfied with this experience, but I don’t know what the future holds and I don’t want to think about it.
“I can only focus on the next match, but I am proud to have made this choice. Nobody from Tottenham has contacted me, not even the coach. I was and am fully focusing on Samp.”
After the comments emerged, many supporters have criticised Spurs' lack of communication during the' loan spell.
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One fan commented on the quotes, saying: "Surely everyone can see this is disgraceful man management? Winks is Spurs through and through, has played some unreal football for us, all that it takes for him to be completely forgotten about by all is one off season and a coach that clearly never liked him regardless."
A second wrote: "Hate this if true or false. Possible to keep tabs through the agent. Makes Tottenham as a whole look bad if true. Someone should be monitoring and keeping up with Winks. If not Conte, paratici then. He’s playing in Italy for heaven's sake."
A third added: "Feel sorry for him. Yes not been great the last few season but probably another player getting mistreated by the club which is sad as winks has passion for us."
Sampdoria, meanwhile, sit rock bottom of the Serie A ladder after picking up just two wins from a possible 26.
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Winks is still hopeful of avoiding relegation with 12 games remaining of the campaign.
“I feel in debt to Sampdoria," he said. "If I had been available from the start, I would have given my all to help the team, but I don’t want to think my presence would have been fundamenta.
"This is a great team, regardless of what’s going on. I am sorry because the club has always supported me, on and off the pitch. It was important to solve my ankle problem. There are amazing people here, and so are the fans.
“There is a strong sense of belonging and I can only be grateful to the team. There have been many changes, but we’ve never lacked support. We will continue to fight, we can still make it.”
Winks joined the Tottenham Academy at the age of five and went on to graduate from the club's youth system before making his debut in 2014.
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Harry Winks, Tottenham Hotspur, Serie A, Premier League
