Journalist reveals why Spurs were able to snap up Matt Doherty on the cheap

Tottenham Hotspur’s capture of Matt Doherty has to go down as a bargain signing for Daniel Levy and Jose Mourinho this summer.

The right-back has been one of the most productive attacking full-backs in the Premier League over the course of the last two seasons.

Tottenham reportedly managed to snap up the defender for a fee of just £13.4 million without any add ons, despite Doherty having three years left to run on his contract at the Molineux Stadium.

Therefore, it is understandable that some have been left perplexed as to how the North Londoners managed to snap up the 28-year-old for such a low transfer fee.

New York Times reporter and co-author of Football’s Secret Trade, Tariq Panja, may have the answer to that question.

Panja pointed out Doherty’s move to Spurs was heavily influenced by super-agent, Jorge Mendes, who is not just an advisor to Wolves’ owners but also the agent of Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo, and Doherty himself.

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This transfer certainly has Mendes’ influence written all over it. He has helped Wolves land some bargain transfers in the past and I suspect this was the club’s way of returning the favour by allowing his client to leave for a modest fee. However, I am not so sure Wolves would have let Doherty go so easily if they had known that Arsenal would pull out of the deal to take Ainsley Maitland-Niles to the Molineux.

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