Reports: Everton drops interest in Harry Winks, but Leeds are considering move

I have bad news for everyone except our beloved Hoddler in Chief Fitzie — according to a report in iNews, Everton has backed off of their previous interest in signing Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Harry Winks.

But i can reveal that a deal for Tottenham midfielder Harry Winks will not be pursued by Lampard after the Everton manager cooled his interest in the England international.

Instead, they will concentrate on targets elsewhere – with the club having made a pitch to Christian Eriksen, the Denmark international who is considering where to play next after his successful stint with Brentford.

If I’m being charitable here — and ok, sure, why not be charitable, it never hurts anything to be kind — this is bad for Winksy as Everton sure did look like a club where he would be certain to have major first team minutes. And if that’s the metric, then it’s a shame that this move didn’t pan out.

On the other hand, there were talks of Everton shelling out £20-25m fee for a homegrown, Premier League experienced English midfielder, possibly as a makeweight for either Richarlison (who has since signed) or Anthony Gordon. Those rumors I liked. I wish they were still around.

But it’s not all bad good aaagh [Edit: no idea what adjective to use here help] news. A couple days ago the Liverpool Echo seemed to dispute iNews’s report, suggesting that Everton would like Winksy on loan, and without a purchase obligation. That’s going to be of less interest to Spurs, as they’ll want a permanent exit ramp so we don’t have to do this all over again next summer.

The Echo also notes that there’s a new player interested in Winks: Leeds United, who recently sold Kalvin Philips to Manchester City. There’s also a suggestion that as time goes on Spurs would be willing to drop their asking price for Winks just to get him out the door. If Jesse Marsch speed-dialing Fabio Paratici’s number, I suspect that’s what might eventually happen.

So: bummer for Winks, bummer for Tottenham. But all might come out in the wash, eventually?