'A kid comes here, aged 8 or 9, a pair of boots, just dreaming...'

Jose Mourinho described Harry Winks’ journey from Academy prospect to Tottenham Hotspur captain as ‘the dream story’.

The midfielder followed in the footsteps of the likes of Ledley King and Harry Kane in making that journey when he led the team out against Wolves on Sunday.

It was a momentous occasion for ‘Winksy’, now 24, a Spurs fan who joined our youth set up at the age of six, yet one that the player himself felt was overshadowed by our 3-2 loss on the day.

“First of all, it’s beautiful history,” said Jose. “It’s the dream story, a kid comes here, eight, nine, 10-year-old with his mum or dad or a friend, a pair of boots in a bag, just dreaming.

“You can say the Club has many examples of it, and we have, but after the beautiful (Japhet) Tanganga story of his debut and playing, this a beautiful story, a kid who comes here, goes through all the process, comes to the first team, plays for the first team and then in an important match in the Premier League, he is captain.

“I don’t say he’s a kid anymore, more a young man, very mature, very professional, very serious. He deserved that honour and for him, it means more than for someone who wasn’t born in the Club.”

Winksy has been in fine form in recent weeks, indeed, starting our last 12 matches in all competitions going back to January. He’s up to 133 appearances for us since his debut against FK Partizan in the Europa League aged 18 back in 2014 and his breakthrough campaign of 2016/17.

How did Jose see him as a player? “I see him getting better and better and better, a player who I used to analyse as an opponent and I always thought a good player, but I think at this moment, he’s a player with a different dynamic, a different vision, a different freedom.

"Possibly also because of his maturity, because of his experience, he’s a fighter, he has that mentality. So, he has all the conditions to have a beautiful history at the Club.”