Harry Winks has completed his move from Tottenham Hotspur to Leicester City on a permanent deal.
The 27-year-old has penned a three-year contract with the Foxes until the end of the 2025-26 season, and Leicester will reportedly pay a fee of £10m for his services.
Winks’s switch to the King Power Stadium brings an end to his 21-year stay at Tottenham Hotspur, having first joined the Lilywhites’ youth academy in 2002.
“I’m delighted. I’m really excited about the challenge ahead. It’s an amazing club with great history and the facilities are incredible. I’m just so happy to be here and ready to get going,” Winks told LCFC TV.
“I’m looking forward to getting started, to having a full pre-season with the team and coming here early to get ready for the games coming up. It’s going to be an important few weeks to get everyone ready and to push myself to get fit
“I’m also looking forward to a new challenge and to challenge myself. Coming to a club like Leicester is the perfect chance to do that.
Winks progressed through the Tottenham youth academy and made his first-team debut for the Lilywhites in November 2014, appearing against Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League as an 18-year-old.
The 10-cap England international ended up representing Spurs on 203 occasions in all competitions, scoring five goals and setting up six more, including two goals in 128 Premier League matches.
However, Winks fell down the pecking order under Antonio Conte, who quickly settled on Rodrigo Bentancur and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg as his first-choice midfield partnership.
Winks subsequently joined Sampdoria on loan for the 2022-23 season, playing 20 Serie A games, but he could not prevent the Blucerchiati’s demotion to the second tier of Italian football.
The midfielder links up with Enzo Maresca‘s side following James Maddison‘s £40m move from Leicester to Tottenham, as the Foxes aim to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
“Just from meeting a couple of the players on the pitch and from being around some of them at England at the different age groups, it’s going to be nice to get back with them and easy to come into a new environment. Hopefully, I’ll slot in well,” Winks added.
“Hopefully we can get back to the Premier League. I’m sure most of the players on the team are feeling the same way. It’s a great bunch of players and if everyone works well and works hard, which I’m sure they will do, there’s a good chance we can get there.”
Winks becomes Leicester’s first signing of the Maresca era and is also the first player to be sold by Tottenham since the arrival of Ange Postecoglou as head coach.
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