Harry Winks has travelled to Qatar see world-leading specialists in an attempt to solve the ankle problems that threaten to wreck his World Cup dream.
The Tottenham midfielder has played only three times in 2018 having never recovered properly from damage sustained during the first half of the campaign, when he was one of Spurs’ best players.
Winks has now travelled to the Aspetar clinic in Doha, Qatar, which describes itself as “the world’s leading specialised orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital”.
Though Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino did not rule out a return for Winks before the end of the campaign, that appears unlikely.
Standard Sport revealed last week that the 22-year-old had received injections to try to improve the situation, but this course of action suggests they did not have the desired effect.
“We are a little bit concerned about his situation,” Pochettino said. “When you are young, it is more difficult to deal with these situations and we want him to enjoy his football again.
“We will see what happens. We hope after this period he can come back, fix his problem and try again to be training with the group.
“We need to wait now to assess him and we need the news from there, always hoping that it is going to be good.”
Winks made his senior England debut in a World Cup 2018 qualifier in Lithuania last October and made a fine contribution.
He also starred for Spurs in both Champions League matches against Real Madrid, impressing watching scouts from Barcelona in the process.
(evening standard)
