Matt Doherty has admitted that his permanent move from Tottenham to Atletico Madrid caught him unaware as the north London club suddenly realised a loan move was not possible.
The Irishman was all set to move on loan to the Madrid side until the end of the season in January only for Spurs to realise that a newly-changed UEFA rule meant they had already reached the limit on loan moves to clubs during that campaign. That meant that at the last moment Doherty had to have his contract cancelled with Tottenham and he signed a short-term permanent deal with Atletico until the end of the season.
football.london reported at the time that Doherty's Spurs team-mates were left shocked by the sudden change in the deal and in a new interview the 31-year-old has admitted that it was a frantic final day of that January transfer window for him as he left Antonio Conte's squad.
