Harry Winks could be facing a surprise Tottenham Hotspur exit after an inconsistent start to the 2020/21 season. Alan Hutton has discussed the midfielder's situation and believes that he could have some "big decisions" to make as the January transfer window approaches.

"I think over the coming months, you’re going to see a lot of these talks, especially when you’re coming up to a transfer window, because everybody’s got their eye on the Euros, everybody wants to be in the squad," he told Football Insider. "He’s [Winks] either going to have to sit down with Mourinho and say: ‘What’s my plan moving forward, am I going to be a starter? If not, I need to look elsewhere.’"

Indeed, whilst the 24-year-old has fallen down the pecking order recently, Jose Mourinho will not want to see him leave the club.

Why Spurs must keep hold of Harry Winks

The three-time Premier League winner is an admirer of the midfielder and spoke highly of his "improving" status during a press conference in February. Mourinho applauded his spatial awareness and the rate of hard work he has been putting into his performances.

Similarly, Jamie Redknapp has heaped praise on Winks' role in this Tottenham side and recently described him as "the glue" that holds the team together. The ex-Spurs man also went on to discuss how his position under Mourinho allows January signing Giovani Lo Celso to roam further up the field and join the attack.

Although Spurs recruited Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg over the summer, Winks had the better overall defensive performance last season. According to WhoScored, the former Southampton man had a rather disappointing passing accuracy of 78.1% whilst Winks boasted 90.3%. He also committed less fouls per match (0.8) and was dribbled past less times on average (1.2) than Hojbjerg's numbers of 1.4 and 1.6 respectively.

This campaign, Winks has again been caught out less times by a dribbling attacker (1) and has less fouls per 90 minutes (0.5) to the Dane's 1.5 and 1.8.

The England international still has a role to play in this Spurs side, which is currently undergoing a huge makeover. Mourinho's engine room is struggling to create chances for star players Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, fielding Winks will allow his midfield partners to get forward and help catch the opposition off guard. Hojbjerg tends to juggle both an attacking and defending role, which could be why he is so prone to giving away free-kicks and being dribbled past.

Tottenham will regret the decision to sell Winks, especially with his current £75,000 per week contract running until 2024. If Mourinho values his contribution, he must let the player know and give him more time on the pitch to convince him to stay.

In other news, Spurs have perfect chance to offload Dele Alli as Leeds are linked...