Gary Neville tips Premier League midfielder to make surprise England return

Leicester City midfielder Harry Winks has what it takes to force his way into Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad, according to .

Winks has 10 caps and one goal for the Three Lions but has not played for the national team since 2020. The 28-year-old left boyhood club for in a £10million transfer in the summer of 2023 and the gamble of dropping down a division paid off.

He played a key role in helping the Foxes bounce straight back to the , starring in Enzo Maresca’s midfield as they won the Championship title. Winks has continued to feature prominently for Steve Cooper this season and caught the eye of Neville on Friday night.

Although Leicester were beaten 3-1 by in front of the Sky Sports cameras, Winks was at the heart of a brilliant move for Jamie Vardy’s goal. The ex-Spurs midfielder started the move at the base of midfield before exchanging passes down the left channel and putting a perfect cross in for Vardy to prod home to make it 1-1.

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Ultimately it was Chris Wood who took the headlines, scoring twice to move Forest up to fifth in the Premier League. But Neville felt compelled to praise Winks after the full-time whistle.

“He was absolutely outstanding – this typified his first half,” Neville said on Sky Sports while watching the replay of Leicester’s goal. “A little pass around the corner… Harry Winks is a player who you think could play at international level.

“I know he has played at international level, but I look at him and think England lack a player who can get us playing. And he is very good at that. He might be better suited to international football actually than club football.”

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Neville did offer some constructive criticism however, believing Winks should have done more to stop Wood’s two goals. “He (Winks) was outstanding in the first half,” he said. “But what he has to do in the second half, when it’s more difficult for him, is he has to still get on the ball and dominate the game – that’s what the best players do in that position. He got nullified in the second half and that was the turning point in the game because Forest had to tighten up.”

Winks’ talent is not in doubt. Speaking in 2017, after giving him a chance at the age of 21, was effusive: “For me he is the perfect midfielder, who can play box-to-box and as a holding midfielder. He has the quality and the capacity to play, use the demands of the game and read it. He’s so clever.”

had similar comments after giving Winks his England debut against Lithuania in October 2017. "I was really pleased [with Winks], I thought he showed great maturity, he didn't look fazed by wearing an England shirt,” he said. "His quality on the ball was good, he was the one that found forward passes and he looked to play forward. I thought he could be very proud of his debut."

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