Unfortunately for Tottenham, Matt Doherty will now miss the rest of the season after damaging knee ligaments in the 4-0 win over Aston Villa.
It comes at a cruel time for the £14.7m man, who was enjoying a resurgence under Antonio Conte with two goals and three assists in his last seven Premier League outings.
Now, despite his good form, we think Doherty will never be named in the Italian’s starting XI again.
What’s the story?
Well, according to The Athletic, Conte was desperate to sign a new right-back in January, but Fabio Paratici failed to bring him one.
The reliable news outlet believe Spurs are expected to address the issue again this summer, with Adama Traore and Djed Spence on their radar.
In our view, that spells the end for Doherty, who was merely acting as a stopgap until the summer transfer window anyway.
Of course, the 30-year-old has been impressive in recent weeks, but he has largely struggled since arriving from Wolves in August 2020.
Therefore, a few good games shouldn’t gloss over the fact that a substantially better option is required in the right wing-back role.
Tottenham should keep Matt Doherty
We must stress that we are by no means suggesting Tottenham sell Doherty.
In our view, the north Londoners must – and allegedly will – upgrade on the Irishman, but he would remain a decent backup option from the bench.
Whether he wants to spend the remainder of his prime acting as a deputy remains to be seen, but he has clearly shown he can be of some value under Conte, and has worked hard to improve his performances.
Someone like Traore or Spence would take Tottenham up a level, but if a game requires a bit of grit as Spurs see out a narrow lead, Doherty would be a smart substitute option.
Having said that, we can’t see him ever making the starting lineup under Conte again, after he was ruled out for the remainder of this campaign.
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