Matt Doherty insists he never came close to returning to Wolverhampton Wanderers in January and didn’t ask to leave Tottenham Hotspur. Rumours linking Doherty with a surprise return to Wolves even emerged, despite Bruno Lage being well stocked at wing-back with Nelson Semedo, Jonny Castro Otto and Ki-Jana Hoever all capable of operating on the right. The Wolves head coach didn’t give the Doherty rumours much credence when asked about the possibility in January.
Bruno Lage said: “I heard after our victory against Manchester United our goalkeeper was going to five or six clubs, our defenders, our midfielders, our strikers. Even today when I was in the meeting, I was surprised to see all the players there. I have heard a lot of things, so I was surprised everyone was still in the building! It’s that time of the season, rumours… We must wait and see what really happens in the end.”
And Doherty has now set the record straight by revealing he never intended to leave Spurs, now fourth in the Premier League, during the January transfer window.
Matt Doherty said: “I didn’t come close (to leaving), I never had a conversation, nothing was ever said to me. From my point of view I was led to believe that I wasn’t going anywhere. I don’t know if that’s the case, that is what my point of view was. You have thoughts at times that it wasn’t working out, I just decided that I wanted to train hard and I wanted to play here. Why would I want to go anywhere apart from Tottenham? I thought if I keep training hard and I keep doing what the manager wants the opportunity would come and it would be up to me to grasp the opportunity and at the moment I seem to be doing that well.”
