Wolverhampton Wanderers have the confirmed the signing of defender Matt Doherty, three years after his initial departure from Molineux.
In 2020, the club legend ended a decade-long stint in the West Midlands to link up with Tottenham Hotspur in a £13.4m deal.
At the time, the transfer suited all parties with the Republic of Ireland international ready to take on a new challenge and Wolves then being in the market for Barcelona's Nelson Semedo.
While Semedo remains at the club, Doherty has been brought back to Wolves having become a free agent at the end of an unproductive stint with Atletico Madrid during the second half of 2022-23.
The 31-year-old was provided with just 16 minutes of football across two outings for the Spanish giants, with the move coming about after Spurs had released Doherty to make space for the incoming Pedro Porro.
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Doherty's spell at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was a relative success with three goals and eight assists coming from 71 outings in all competitions, yet he was never regarded as first choice at full-back or wing-back.
He now returns to a club where he has already made 302 appearances, chipping in with 28 goals and 41 assists, and it represents Wolves' first signing of the summer after a number of sales.
Speaking to the club's official website, Doherty said: "Obviously, it's a little bit strange, seeing some old faces as well as a lot of new ones – I think there is only five players here who were there the last time, so it is a bit strange. But once I get training and everything like that, it will all be fine.
"I'd been here a long time and had some great times here as well. I still have my house here in the midlands and I've been able to move straight back into that, so everything has been running really smoothly.
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On his time away from Wolves, Doherty added: "I've grown as a player in my confidence, physically improving again, tactically – I've worked with some of the best managers on the planet, so if you can't improve with them, then you're never going to improve."
Doherty will now begin training with Wolves ahead of the remainder of their pre-season schedule, with matches with Porto and Celtic to come next week.
Wolves are keen to press ahead with more incomings, with Julen Lopetegui allegedly keen to secure deals for Borussia Monchengladbach's Nico Elvedi, West Ham United's Aaron Cresswell and Bristol City's Alex Scott.
The Premier League outfit initially had to boost their position with FFP with a total in the region of £80m being generated through player sales.
Darren Plant
