The Sun journalist Martin Lipton has claimed Tottenham could consider selling Matt Doherty if they fail to receive any interest in Emerson Royal.
Making the move to Spurs from Wolves in 2020, Doherty has endured a mixed spell in North London as he prepares to embark on his third season with the club.
The 30-year-old has often struggled to work his way into the starting line-up but found form under Antonio Conte last term before a knee towards the back end of the campaign forced him out.
While making his return over the pre-season period and turning out at left wing-back, he was the only outfielder to be left on the bench for their 2-1 win at Rangers last week.
And with the addition of talented wing-back Djed Spence, Lipton believes Spurs will be looking more towards outing Emerson but claims they would not hesitate to cash in on Doherty if a suitable offer arrived.
He told Off The Ball: “I thought he was he was struggling to be the player he’d been at Wolves or indeed was in an Ireland shirt.
“And then suddenly last season for a couple of months, he was absolutely outstanding. He’s certainly a far better attacking player than Emerson Royal.
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“I think that Doherty will certainly, if he’s fit and right, I think he would probably start the season as the first-choice right-back or right wing-back. That doesn’t mean he’ll stay there.
“And it all depends and that presupposes they’re going to sell someone which will be I suspect Emerson Royal but were they to receive a bid for Doherty and not for Royal then they might decide to cash in there. Just because they have Spence now adding to the squad.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Tottenham are fairly saturated when it comes to the right wing-back spot now, especially when you can also add Lucas Moura to the players that can be deployed there.
Emerson will likely be the one they want to offload the most as Doherty can play on the opposite side pretty effectively. However, both aren’t necessarily good enough so they would consider selling both if a decent offer came their way.
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