Wolverhampton Wanderers chairman Jeff Shi has been discussing the club’s decision to sell Matt Doherty last year.
The Republic of Ireland international was one of two high-profile departures in the 2020 summer transfer window, the other being Diogo Jota.
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The star headed to Tottenham Hotspur in a deal that was reportedly worth around £15 million (Independent).
Wolves then went out and signed Nelson Semedo, who has split opinion in his first season with the club.
The sale of Doherty raised a few eyebrows at the time.
He was a brilliant fit for the wing-backs system, and if Semedo has been an upgrade, then it hasn’t really been by much.
Speaking about the decision to sell Doherty, Shi said (Ask Wolves Q&A part 1): “I do think Matt is the kind of player suiting a style.
“At that time, the team, or the head coach, wanted to change the style a bit. So for a certain team, Matt can do a very good job, but if you want to change to maybe a more possession-based team, I think we need to maybe have a different profile of player, so that’s one of the reasons.
“And, also, I do believe Matt himself wanted to move because he has been here for ten years, so I think it’s the right moment to move to a new club, to challenge himself again. So it’s a good deal.”
Doherty sale makes sense
Clearly the intention at Wolves is to get the team to become more possession-based and less defensive/counter-attacking.
We saw throughout 2020/21 Nuno Espirito Santo set up with a back four, and we’ve seen Doherty struggle to play as a traditional right-back at Tottenham.
It seems Wolves just want to go in a direction that doesn’t suit Doherty, and it was best to cash in when they did.