5 players looking to rebuild their careers in 2018/19 after serious injuries

#3: Harry Winks

Harry Winks' ankle injury has forced him onto the sidelines

2017 was a massive breakthrough year for Tottenham youngster Harry Winks, as he made 21 appearances in the Premier League in 2016/17 and then broke through into the England side to star in their final World Cup qualifier against Lithuania last October. It looked like the sky was the limit for the cultured midfielder – particularly when he produced the best performance of his career in Spurs’ 3-1 Champions League victory over Real Madrid in November.

Sadly for Winks though, it’s largely all been downhill since then. The midfielder picked up a niggling ankle injury in his first post-Madrid game against Crystal Palace and despite trying to play through it, the injury ended up sidelining him as 2017 became 2018. Since then he’s only made a handful of appearances – all in FA Cup ties – and in those games, he was clearly struggling.

The cup replay against Rochdale in late February in particular saw Winks have a torrid time, as he appeared to be miles off the pace and just didn’t display the usual tight control and excellent passing range that he had done prior to the injury. And since then, he hasn’t made another appearance for Spurs as he recently traveled to Qatar to seek expert advice on how to recover from the ankle injury.

With his World Cup dreams now in tatters, Winks will undoubtedly be looking forward to 2018/19 to regain his momentum. Thankfully for the England international, Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino remains a huge admirer of his talents and he’ll likely be afforded plenty of time to return to form. When he does, it’ll be a huge boon for Tottenham’s chances in next year’s Premier League.