Tottenham loanee says he did not feel wanted by Antonio Conte and does not keep in touch with people at Spurs

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Harry Winks says he did not feel wanted at Tottenham towards the end of his time there and does not keep in touch with people there.

Winks has done an interview with the Times about his loan spell at Sampdoria in Serie A, which has finally got going after he got over injury problems.

The England midfielder has lifted the lid on the conversations with the club about wanting to go and he was also asked if he watched Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Milan.

When asked if he keeps in touch with people at Spurs, Winks said: “Not particularly, no,” and went into more depth about his loan move.

Harry Winks says he did not feel wanted at Tottenham under Antonio Conte

“Everyone, me and the club, we both knew it was time to part. The situation was clear. I told the club I wanted to go and play regularly. I wasn’t happy just being on the bench and not getting minutes,” Winks said.

“Every time I played, even if I did well I would be out the next game, and it’s really difficult to play your best football like that.

“I said to the club, with no animosity, ‘I want to play regularly. I’ve had some amazing years at Spurs but I want to go and get my confidence and fitness back. I need that to show my qualities again.

The main driver was I wanted to play for a team that wanted me, that respected me enough and wanted to commit to me in that sense. I wanted to feel wanted and appreciated because in the last couple of years it was difficult at Spurs. I didn’t have that feeling.”

Winks was always unlikely to be a Conte player, given the Italian’s preference for more physical midfielders, and then he brought in Rodrigo Bentancur to dictate things in midfield anyway.

The Englishman needed to get himself fit, which he was not able to do for months in Italy anyway, and now he will hope to kick on.

Interestingly, the report says that even if Conte were to leave in the summer, the chances of Winks coming back to Spurs are remote.