Report: Player is facing ‘complicated’ situation after January exit from Spurs

Mundo Deportivo have revealed that it was not Diego Simeone who requested the signing of Matt Doherty in January, which is why the right-back is struggling to get game time at Atletico Madrid.

Tottenham’s decision to terminate Doherty’s contract on transfer deadline day in January, which enabled him to sign for Atletico, came out of the blue. 

Football.London revealed at the time that the North London club were initially planning on loaning the 31-year-old to Atletico but decided to terminate his contract once they realised that they were at the limit of the number of first-team players that a club is allowed to loan out.

Speaking to The Independent earlier this week, the Republic of Ireland international opened up on the circumstances behind his Spurs exit and admitted that he could not turn down the chance to work with a coach of the calibre of Simeone.

However, Doherty has made just one appearance for the La Liga club since his move and Mundo Deportivo have now shed light on why that is the case.

The publication explains that the right-back was not a signing who was ‘specifically requested’ by Simione and was instead a ‘decision by the club’ who saw his availability as a market opportunity to solve a perceived weakness in the squad.

Doherty was allegedly signed so that Nahuel Molina can be rested but Simeone has instead decided to use Marcos Llorente to fill in at right-back.

The report adds that there is ‘not much sign’ that things will change for the former Spurs man from now until the end of the season, which is why his situation is described as being ‘complicated’.

Spurs Web Opinion

One does feel sorry for Doherty as he has been treated extremely poorly in this situation.

Had Spurs done their due diligence regarding their loan situation, they could have quite easily sold the 31-year-old permanently to a Premier League club earlier in the window as the right-back would not have had a shortage of suitors.

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