Shropshire Star

Wolves' resolve being tested as Tottenham target Matt Doherty

Wolves' resolve is being severely tested as Tottenham are understood to have made Matt Doherty their primary target.

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Matt Doherty (AMA)

Jose Mourinho is intent on taking the 28-year-old, who has spent 10 years at Molineux, to Spurs as his first-choice right-back.

The widely-touted fee would see Wolves get an initial £12million for the Irishman – rising to £16m in add-ons – although no deal has been formally agreed yet.

Doherty's former club Bohemians – who he was signed from in 2010 for £75,000 – would bag 10 per cent, though, as they inserted a sell-on clause into the deal a decade ago.

He has made a total of 302 appearances in gold and black – across League One, the Championship and the Premier League – and been the top-flight's second-most creative defender over the past couple of seasons, behind Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold.

His departure would leave Wolves light and in great need of reinforcements, with fellow wing-back Jonny Castro Otto on the sidelines with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Wolves are still working on a deal for Arsenal utility man Ainsley Maitland-Niles while Valencia's Thierry Correia has also been linked.

If Doherty leaves, though, and a replacement does not arrive swiftly, youngsters Ruben Vinagre and Oskar Buur would be the only wing-backs in Nuno Espirito Santo's squad ahead of the new league campaign kicking off at Sheffield United on Monday, September 14.