Former Tottenham Hotspur star, England National Team representative and current Leicester City player Harry Winks is out of favour at King Power Stadium. He's not in manager Marti Cifuentes' good books at present. It's funny because the midfielder came in and out of the side under the Catalan. Subsequently, upon reintroduction to the starting lineup earlier this campaign, Winks appeared a favourite of the boss and totally undroppable.
Now the ex-Spurs man is completely out in the cold, so to speak - at a terribly chilly time of year. Winks won't be expecting a Christmas card nor a present under the tree from his gaffer during this festive season. Of course, the high-powered journalists at The Telegraph and The Athletic etcetera haven't overtly revealed the true reason. Though they did hint enough at events for us bloggers and writers to have a guess at the situation.
Asked if Harry Winks is leaving Leicester City this winter, Marti Cifuentes refused to comment yet his previous pride in the badge comments give the game away, if you can excuse the pun
Winks suddenly and (slightly) shockingly found himself dropped, seemingly out of nowhere. However, one-time City head coach Ruud van Nistelrooy excluded and exhiled the 29-year-old in 2024/25 for refusing to join in squad away match preparations.
The central midfield operator was already under pressure due to reportly choosing to live over 100 miles away from Leicester's Seagrave Training ground in Sileby, Leicestershire. I accused Winks of possibly not fully committing to the LCFC cause, or buying into our club culture at that point.
"Cifuentes has not provided details behind the “technical decision” that is keeping Winks out of the squad and, when asked at his press conference on Thursday if the 29-year-old had played his last game for the club, the Spaniard said: “I’ve already explained the situation. There is no news on that. I would like to focus more on the players who are doing so well this week."Leicester Mercury
It appears that something similar occurred under Cifuentes. Winks was previously criticised for heading down the tunnel at full-time and not applauding the Leicester fan base; among other instances of aloofness. Cifuentes seems to want fully dedicated professionals in his team:
"Cifuentes suggested one of the reasons behind the upturn [prior to the Queens Park Rangers defeat] has been the pride in the badge that his players have been showing.
Changing the culture has been a hot topic for Cifuentes since his arrival and it seems he’s seeing more of what he wants."