Matt Doherty is out of favour at Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United may well be keepings tabs on his situation under Antonio Conte.
Tottenham’s start to the season may look pretty good on paper but there are clear issues.
Defeats to Sporting in the Champions League and now Arsenal in the Premier League have left fans with concerns.
Right wing back continues to be an area of concern, especially as Emerson Royal was sent off against Arsenal, but he is first-choice without much competition right now.
Matt Doherty is out of favour at Tottenham
Summer signing Djed Spence clearly isn’t trusted by Conte for Premier League or Champions League action just yet, meaning Emerson hasn’t faced much competition this term.
Matt Doherty’s situation has become something of a head-scratcher.
The Irishman looked finished at Tottenham before Conte gave him a run in the side with great results at right wing back.
Doherty looked to be getting back to his best before an injury ended his season in April.
That injury disrupted Doherty’s pre-season too and it has left him a little behind the curve at Tottenham and his lack of playing time sums that up.
Doherty has played just 26 minutes this season across three substitute appearances and it doesn’t look like he will start any time soon.
Conte has told Football London that he is not seeing Doherty ‘in the right way’ to start Premier League games right now and doesn’t want to lose.
That’s pretty damning stuff for Doherty and it may spell the beginning of the end for him at Tottenham.
One club who fancied Doherty before the summer transfer deadline was West Ham United.
The Hammers allegedly enquired about signing Doherty on deadline day but no deal was done.
West Ham do still need a right back with Vladimir Coufal suffering a dip in recent times and Ben Johnson not quite emerging as hoped.
Thilo Kehrer can play there if needed – as he did against Wolves on Saturday – but it isn’t really his natural position.
An attack-minded option would be ideal, especially one capable of playing as a wing back, which would allow Moyes to seamlessly switch to playing 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 if he so wishes.
Doherty can certainly do that based on his time at Wolves and Spurs and is already proven in the Premier League.
Conte’s comments suggest that Doherty is a long way off featuring for Tottenham and if that situation continues, the door may be open for Moyes and West Ham to strike a deal after all.
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