A career reshaped by a new role
Harry Winks’ role at Cagliari gives his career a different footing: the midfielder is a regular for Fabio Pisacane’s side and has become a leader among its young players. In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, he looked back on the Tottenham years that shaped him and the teammates and coaches who left the strongest mark. The contrast is notable: at Spurs, he was part of a high-profile squad still chasing its biggest goals; at Cagliari, his value also comes from the responsibility he carries within a developing group.
That shift can matter as much as a change in club. Regular football gives a midfielder a chance to build rhythm, while a leadership role asks for more than performances on the pitch. Winks’ account points to a player who still regards Tottenham as central to his life, but who understands that his day-to-day identity now belongs to the team he represents. This is more significant than it looks: a career isn’t defined only by the club where a player came through, but also by the role he can earn later.
Tottenham remains part of his story
Winks began playing at five in his hometown of Hemel Hempstead. His father, who played for a local team and now works in security and video surveillance, took him to training twice a week after work. That routine gave football a place in family life from an early age, and the destination was Tottenham. For a young player, repeated trips to training can make a club feel less like an abstract institution and more like the setting in which ambition takes shape.
“Tottenham has been my life. But now I support the team I play for: Cagliari.”
The distinction in that answer is plain. Winks doesn’t dismiss his connection to Spurs, but he also draws a line between affection for a former club and commitment to his current one. That’s a practical outlook for a professional whose career has taken him across clubs and into a second spell in Italy. If you’re working in this space, the point is familiar: a player’s history can travel with him, while his loyalties and responsibilities still have to meet the present.
His time in north London didn’t reach the heights some expected, but Winks looks back on it with affection. Tottenham’s 2019 Champions League final defeat still hurts, though he remembers the build-up and the chance to play alongside elite teammates as exceptional. The memory holds both sides of elite sport at once: the lasting sting of a result and the rare experience of reaching the final. A defeat can define the scoreline without erasing what it took to get there.
“The outcome was sad, but the experience was fantastic. Especially everything leading up to the match. It was fantastic to play with such extraordinary players.”
What he learned from Conte and Dembélé
Winks credits Antonio Conte with changing how he understood the game. The manager was the first coach, he said, to give him a different tactical perspective. That kind of influence can outlast a particular job or team: for a midfielder, learning to interpret the game differently may shape how he reads his responsibilities even after the coach is gone. Winks’ description is measured, focused on what Conte taught him and the relationship they had.
“I’ve had many coaches in my career, but he was the first real coach who gave me a different understanding of football, tactically. I got along very well with him.”
Asked about Harry Kane’s Ballon d’Or prospects, Winks backed his former Tottenham teammate, praising his mentality and work ethic. Kane’s standing in the conversation is presented here through Winks’ personal assessment, rather than a claim that an individual award is owed to him. His answer stresses the habits behind a player’s reputation: mentality, effort and sustained commitment. Those qualities are easier to praise than to measure, but they help explain why teammates may rate someone so highly.
But Kane wasn’t the best player Winks says he shared a dressing room with: that distinction went to Belgian midfielder Moussa Dembélé, from whom he says he learned a great deal. It’s a revealing choice because it points to the value of a player’s influence inside a squad, not just the attention he attracts from outside it. Dembélé’s significance in Winks’ account rests on what he learned from him and how that helped his own growth. The lesson, in Winks’ telling, was personal and practical.
“Kane deserves it. He’s an incredible champion with an incredible mentality. He’s worked hard. But the best I’ve played with is Moussa Dembélé, the Belgian. I’ve learned so much from him for my growth.”
A steadier platform in Sardinia
Winks had struggled to find consistent footing at Leicester City and during his later seasons at Tottenham. Cagliari has offered a clearer role: Pisacane is building around a young group in a defined system, with Winks helping lead it. He has also stayed clear of injuries. Taken together, those details describe a more stable platform for a midfielder whose recent career had involved uncertainty over his place and consistency.
A defined role doesn’t guarantee success, and leadership isn’t a substitute for performance. Still, regular involvement can give a player the continuity needed to show what he contributes over time. Winks’ experience at bigger clubs may also give his role with younger teammates a particular weight: he has seen elite environments from close range, and he can draw on that experience without needing to make his current club an extension of his past.
That authority draws on experience earned at Spurs, even as Winks now identifies with the team he represents. His second spell in Italy, following his time at Sampdoria while still a Tottenham player, has given him regular football and responsibility at a point when both matter. Here’s the thing: the move’s value isn’t captured by nostalgia for his earlier career. It’s in whether he can turn experience into dependable contribution now.
What the change could mean for his next chapter
Winks’ comments don’t frame Cagliari as a final destination or make claims about what comes next. They do show a player speaking with clarity about the present: Tottenham shaped him, Conte changed how he saw the game, Dembélé helped him grow, and Cagliari is where his current responsibilities lie. That combination gives his career a coherent thread without pretending every stage has produced the same level of opportunity.
For Cagliari, a senior player in a young group can offer a reference point, particularly when the team is working within a defined system. The value depends on how that experience translates into the group’s daily work and matches; the interview doesn’t supply evidence to judge those outcomes. And yet, Winks’ account makes the role itself clear. A steadier platform, with a chance to lead. That’s a meaningful change in footing, even if the larger verdict on his career remains open.