Alan Hutton has claimed that right-back has been a major problem area for Spurs all season and admitted that Matt Doherty has fallen well short of his expectations.
Doherty has failed to displace Serge Aurier as Tottenham’s first-choice at right-back this season, with the former Wolves man still struggling to find his feet at the club.
Reports indicate that Jose Mourinho has not been impressed with what he has seen of Doherty and is considering moving the 29-year-old on in the summer after just one season in North London.
While Aurier has put in decent performances for a lot of the season, the right-back has reportedly had some issues with the Spurs boss off the pitch.
It has been claimed that Tottenham do not plan on offering the former Paris Saint-Germain defender a new deal despite Aurier entering the final year of his contract in the summer.
Norwich City’s Max Aarons is rumoured to be one of the targets on Tottenham’s radar and Hutton admitted that it is a position that Mourinho’s men have to address in the summer.
The former Spurs number two told Football Insider: “I think it’s been a problem area for Tottenham this season.
“I genuinely thought Doherty would come in and make a difference.
“We know how well he played at Wolves. Yes, it’s difficult going from a 3-4-3 at Wolves to change into a four at Spurs.
“That position is definitely up for grabs and a big signing is likely.
“Whether they look at the summer to bring someone in or whether one of those two players really kick on and make it their own.
“I think they’ve got the quality to do that, it’s just about showing it on the pitch.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Doherty has had an extremely poor season so far and he looks like he is currently lacking in confidence. However, we have seen with the likes of Sissoko (and even Aurier himself) that players can turn their fortunes around after a difficult start at the club.
So, I would not write Doherty off totally just yet but if he fails to show any improvement until the end of the season, his time at the club will likely be up.