Harry Winks made his first competitive appearance since May on Monday, as the on-loan Spurs midfielder finally returned from an ankle problem that had sidelined him for Sampdoria.
The midfielder moved to Serie A in August but was forced to undergo ankle surgery in November, leaving him out of action for the first five months of his loan spell.
But the 26-year-old made a long-awaited return on Monday night in Empoli, playing 29 minutes for Sampdoria in a 1-0 defeat.
Sampdoria - who are 19th in Serie A 18 games into the season - looked to have equalised in the 96th minute until the goal was ruled out by VAR for a handball in the build-up.
While it was another disappointing night for Sampdoria, Winks made a relatively positive impression.
The midfielder completed 16 of 22 passes and made four tackles, according to FBref.com, while at least one corner of the Italian media had kind words for him as well.
Genova Today ranked the player a 6/10 on the night and named him as one of their best players from the contest.
'It is clear that he is a high-level player, even if he has always been injured so far,' they wrote. 'Good starting point to put order and some quality in midfield.'
Winks joined Sampdoria having spent his whole career at Spurs before he sought a move to seek more regular game time.
He made just nine league starts in each of the last two seasons, often forced into a bit-part role in north London.
He brings strong pedigree to Sampdoria for their relegation battle as he has made 203 appearances for Spurs and earned 10 caps for England.
