Irish international Matt Doherty - who followed in the footsteps of Newcastle footballer Kieran Trippier with his shock move to Atletico Madrid - has revealed the influence the English defender had in the move.
Doherty shocked the country when he completed an unexpected last-minute transfer to Atletico Madrid from Tottenham on deadline day in January. The deal came as a shock when there had been little to no talk of Doherty going until deadline day. However, the former Spurs player mutually terminated his contract with Tottenham to facilitate his move to the Spanish side. His six-month contract, sees Doherty signed to Diego Simone's side for the rest of this season.
Atleti 🫶 Ireland pic.twitter.com/51WJtAZGDw
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) February 15, 2023
Matt Doherty has now revealed that his conversations with former Spurs player Kieran Trippier played an important role in his move to Atletico. Newcastle United defender Trippier left Spurs for Atletico in 2019 where he helped the side to their eleventh La Liga title, Trippier has since returned to fifth-place Newcastle where he's become a team regular under Eddie Howe.
Having gone from Spurs to Atletico just like Doherty was about to do, it only made sense that Irishman would be keen to hear what he had to say about his time there. Reflecting on the move Doherty told Mundo Deportivo about Trippier's influence on his decision to go,
Just from what I've heard from people like Kieran Trippier. I am very excited. With the way in which he said that Simeone trains and the players play, I realized that I would really have fun here.
I want to see how his teams play in games, and set up for games in training, and even see the different style of training.
Kieran Trippier lines out for Spanish side Atletico Madrid
Trippier has since revealed that he's been acting as a friend and shoulder to lean on for Matt Doherty who was making the move to continental Europe for the first time in his career, telling the media,
I talked to him. About how much he will enjoy the defence and the whole city and stuff, to give him an idea and help him out
It's important that you have someone to lean on, it's not easy to go abroad and get out of your comfort zone, but it was an incredible experience and something I'll remember forever
Despite Trippier's advice and Doherty's excitement, it's not all been plain sailing for the Irish defender as he struggles to make an impact with the Spanish outfit. Doherty still hasn't made his Atletico debut over three weeks on from the move. He has started all three of the games he's been eligible for on the bench but has been overlooked on each occasion, despite Simeone making fourteen subs across the three games.
The right back position at Atletico is already filled by Argentinian World Cup winner Nahuel Molina, so whether Matt Doherty can break into the side, is very much so still to be seen. However, with plenty of football left to be played, let's hope the former Bohs player can make an impact when he gets his chance and potentially grab a long-term contract while he's at it.
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