Matt Doherty is an Atletico Madrid player. Even Tottenham Hotspur fans still probably can’t believe it.
With Pedro Porro entering the Tottenham building on transfer deadline day and Antonio Conte already having three bonafide right-side wing-backs on his books, then it was obvious something had to give way.
The unfinanced Djed Spence was the first to leave, a sixth-month loan deal to French side, Rennes, where he links up with Joe Rodon.
But that’s when the surprise news hit that Doherty could be heading to Spain and linking up with the unique and highly-demanding, Diego Simeone.
Not only did the Republic of Ireland international move to the Wanda Metropolitano, but his Spurs contract was ripped up, which surprised many.
Well, when Doherty posted on Instagram about his Tottenham exit and move to La Liga, his former Wolves teammate Ruben Neves posted in the comments section ‘Doooooooc’ added with love-heart eyes emoji and then ‘My God. All the best bro.’.
MIXED TIME FOR DOHERTY AT TOTTENHAM
It was Jose Mourinho who brought Doherty to north London in 2020 when Spurs paid Wolves £15 million for the boyhood Arsenal fan (Guardian).
In truth, his performances in the Midlands, weren’t replicated during the early stages of his Spurs career.
That continued when his former manager Nuno Espirito Santo entered the building, whilst he had a very strong ending to the last campaign before an injury ended his season.
Yes, that right-sided wing-back role has been a problem for Spurs, but Doherty has possibly been the best of a bad bunch because, since Kieran Trippier’s exit, and that ironically to Atletico, the Champions League-chasing side haven’t replaced him.
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