The Athletic have revealed that Tottenham chose not to offload Matt Doherty during the January transfer window due to their inability to sign a right wing-back.
Spurs strengthened their forward line and their midfield department with the additions of Juventus duo Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur on deadline day.
However, the club were unable to upgrade at right wing-back, a position that Antonio Conte was reportedly keen on strengthening (Telegraph).
Tottenham were snubbed by their first-choice target Adama Traore, who chose to return to Barcelona instead (Mirror).
Conte’s men were also rebuffed by Atletico Madrid in their efforts to sign Yannick Carrasco (David Ornstein) while the North Londoners allegedly had an offer of £12m plus add-ons for Djed Spence turned down by Middlesbrough late in the window (90 min).
The Athletic have now explained that Spurs could have found a buyer for Doherty on deadline day had they tried.
However, it is alleged they could not afford to move the Republic of Ireland international on since no right wing-back had been added to the squad.
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Spurs Web Opinion
I am happy to wait until the summer if it means Spurs could have a shot at signing someone like Tariq Lamptey. That is also why I am not too disappointed that we did not bring in a striker.
I would prefer us to save up the cash for the summer, where a lot more options would be on the table, rather than signing a player for the sake of it in January.
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