Leicester City didn't stand a chance in the Premier League last season, finishing their return campaign to the English top flight in 18th, 13 points behind Tottenham Hotspur in the last safe position in the league table.
There were many reasons for Leicester's failure to achieve their most important goal of safety, but the biggest reason was how badly their most expensive signings and most highly paid players flopped in the 2024/25 season.
No player epitomized this level of disappointment more profoundly than experienced center midfielder Harry Winks. Despite earning £4.68 million last season (or £90,000 per week), Winks played like a sub-professional footballer and seemed to act like one too, falling out with both managers, Steve Cooper and Ruud van Nistelrooy, during the season.
It got so bad with Winks that Van Nistelrooy even chopped the 29-year-old off his squad entirely after his final tussle with the Englishman, as Winks refused to compromise on a very basic request to lodge closer to the facilities so he didn't have to commute 100 miles to Leicester.
Only Jamie Vardy made more money
Causing problems like that is bad enough, but Winks's play on the pitch was even worse. In 17 starts last season around more injury woes, Winks was a complete failure and statistically one of the worst midfielders in the Premier League.
Winks was tied with forward Odsonne Edouard as the second highest-paid player on Leicester City behind striker and club legend Jamie Vardy. For a defensive midfielder to make that much money at a newly-promoted side in comparison to his peers and even the forwards, you would have expected a lot more from Winks.
Instead of being an experienced and stabilizing hand in the middle of the pitch, Winks was a big part of the chaos on and off the pitch. He was overrun regularly and a massive reason why Leicester City were such a sieve as a team.
Winks averaged just 1.1 tackles and 0.4 interceptions per game and yet was gashed on the dribble 0.8 times per match. He averaged just 0.7 combined dribbles completed and fouls drawn per game, offering no real defensive cover or ball progression to Leicester City and only limited creativity with two assists.
A woeful player for years at Tottenham who never came close to the unreasonable hype he got, Winks then became a key part of Sampdoria's downfall with his horrible midfield play. Now at Leicester City, Winks has hopefully been finally exposed as one of the biggest busts in English football in recent memory - a dreadful midfielder stealing paychecks and starting jobs from far more deserving players.