Matt Doherty is probably one of Tottenham Hotspur’s most-improved players under Antonio Conte.
Under Jose Mourinho and Nuno Espirito Santo, the Republic of Ireland was a mere squad player – and especially when Fabio Paratici signed Emerson Royal to send the former Wovles right-back further down the pecking order.
But when Conte replaced Nuno as Tottenham manager in November, the 30-year-old slowly but surely began improving.
In fact, you could argue that Doherty was one of the Lilywhites’ best performers during the second half of the campaign, with Conte describing his season-ending injury in April as ‘really bad news‘.
Despite his form, Doherty could be on the move.
According to The Athletic today, the Irishman is considered ‘dispensable’ by the Italian manager in North London, in spite of his pre-injury heroics.
Nevertheless, Doherty put injury woes and transfer speculation to one side this afternoon to spend time with Tottenham teammate Eric Dier in Monaco for the Formula 1.
The duo were joined by two Manchester City players in the form of Ruben Dias and Phil Foden, while Chelsea’s Mason Mount completed the quintet.
Selling Doherty would be a mistake.
Yes, Emerson got his act together in the final weeks of the campaign with some solid performances, but Conte is also reported to want him gone, too.
However, selling two right-backs would be insanity for Conte and Paratici.
One must be retained and from what we’ve seen under the former Inter Milan manager, Doherty has absolutely done more to stay on at Hotspur Way than his Brazilian counterpart.
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