- The midfielder has played 10 international matches between 2018 and 2020.
- They put in an impressive performance on Friday in the East Midlands derby.
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Gary Neville has identified a Premier League midfielder whose game is better suited to international football than club football, which could give incoming manager Thomas Tuchel plenty to think about.
The player already has some international experience, having made 10 international appearances for the Three Lions and scoring one goal, earning rave reviews on his debut for the national team.
Starting a 1-0 away win in Lithuania in 2018, he was described as “England’s best player” and a standout player “among so much mediocrity” in a BBC Sport report.
However, with one final appearance for the team in 2020 under Gareth Southgate, the midfielder has spent the last four years in the cold after his club’s form dipped and he fell down the pecking order.
But now, with Leicester back in the Premier League, Harry Winks has shown Neville that he has what it takes to return to the England team, following his performance against Nottingham Forest on Friday night.
Gary Neville has claimed that Harry Winks has proven he is good enough to return to the England squad.
Thomas Tuchel will take charge of the Three Lions from the beginning of 2025
Winks put in an impressive performance, especially in the first half, against Nottingham Forest.
“He was absolutely extraordinary; that characterized his first half,” Neville said of his role in goal for Leicester on Sky Sports.
‘A little pass around the corner… Harry Winks is a player who you think could play at international level.
“I know he has played at international level, but I look at him and I think England are missing a player who can make us play. And he is very good at that. Maybe he adapts better to international football than club football.”
Leicester went down 3-1 in the East Midlands derby at the King Power Stadium on Friday night, with Steve Cooper falling to his former team.
The visitors took the lead through Ryan Yates, whose excellent form continues, before Jamie Vardy scored to level the tie before the break.
But it only took two minutes of the second half for Chris Wood’s purple streak to extend, the New Zealand international scoring twice in the second half to condemn Cooper and company to a fourth defeat on their return to the top flight.
Winks, however, was the standout player, at least for Neville, in the first half of the match, although the Manchester United legend still had some constructive criticism towards the former Tottenham star.
Neville added: “He (Winks) was exceptional in the first half,” he said. “But what he has to do in the second half, when it’s more difficult for him, is to have the ball and dominate the game; that’s what the best players in that position do.”
Chris Wood scored twice as the visitors secured a 3-1 victory over rivals Leicester City.
The midfielder played a crucial role in Jamie Vardy’s first goal, although Neville still had some constructive criticism to offer.
“They canceled it in the second half and that was the turning point of the game because Forest had to push harder.”
Since leaving Tottenham in 2023, after being loaned to Sampdoria in 2022, Winks has made 57 appearances for Leicester.
Under Enzo Maresca’s Championship-winning side in 2023-24, Winks played a pivotal role in securing the Foxes’ return to the Premier League.
