Former Tottenham midfielder Harry Winks has announced that he has become a father, just a matter of minutes after it was revealed that he has been axed from the Leicester squad.
Winks, 29, who left Spurs to join the East Midlands club for £10million in July 2023, played a major role as the Foxes returned to the Premier League at the first time of asking. He started in all-but one of their 46 Championship matches last season as they lifted the second-tier title.
However, Winks' game time has reduced since Leicester's return to the Premier League. He started the season as a firm fixture in their starting XI but dropped out the side after suffering a groin injury in November.
Winks was back in the fold for the trip to Liverpool on Boxing Day and started seven matches in a row before being dropped for the visit of Arsenal in February.
He has since not started a single game, and after three cameo appearances against West Ham, Chelsea and Manchester United, he was left out of the squad for the trip to Manchester City on Wednesday.
Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy didn't even name Winks on the bench and the reason for his omission has since been revealed. According to The Telegraph, the 10-cap England international was not included in the travelling contingent because refused to compromise on his 100-mile commute.
It's added that Van Nistelrooy was involved in a heated confrontation with Winks over the international break after he declined a request to stay overnight one day a week at the club's training ground.
Winks, who is said to be one of three players to travel more than 90 miles a day to Seagrave in north Leicestershire, is thought to have his own private reasons for commuting every day to training.
But Van Nistelrooy reacted angrily to what he felt was ill-discipline and excluded Winks from the squad for the trip to the Etihad Stadium. It's unclear, at this stage, if Winks will return for the visit of Newcastle on Monday.
Less than an hour after the report emerged that he was axed from the Leicester squad, Winks posted an exciting announcement on his Instagram account, confirming that he has become a father.
Alongside an image of his newborn, Winks posted the date of birth - 12 March 2025 - as the caption on the post. Leicester goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk and forward Stephy Mavididi were among those to congratulate Winks, with the duo both commenting with a love heart emoji.
Winks later liked another comment which read: "This is why u don't want to commute that's media for u."
It's clear the situation at Leicester is damning at the moment and Van Nistelrooy is trying to instil discipline in the squad for the remaining eight fixtures. The Foxes are on a terrible run right now, having lost 14 of their last 15 Premier League games, and failing to score in any of their last seven.
At home, the Foxes haven't scored a single league goal since December 8, and last tasted victory in any competition on January 26 when they ran out 2-1 winners at Winks' former club Tottenham.
They sit 19th in the Premier League table on 17 points from their 30 fixtures and look destined to return to the Championship. The Foxes sit 12 points behind Wolves in 17th with 24 to play for.
Considering Van Nistelrooy's side have picked up just seven points since he replaced Steve Cooper as the club's new head coach in November, it looks like a very tall order.