The signing of Matt Doherty at Tottenham Hotspur has always been a strange one.

£15m gamble

Back in the summer of 2020, the north London outfit - who had Jose Mourinho at the helm - splashed out around £15m on the Jorge Mendes client after regularly featuring at right wing-back for Wolverhampton Wanderers

The problem was instantly clear. Mourinho's system did not cater for an attack-minded option in the role, meaning he found it very hard to adapt and was often left to play second fiddle behind Serge Aurier.

What adds further mystery to his arrival is that he couldn't even break into the starting XI under his former Wolves boss Nuno Santo, who would only last a mere few months in the dugout.

Now he's been gifted a manager in Antonio Conte that plays a system that fits his attributes like a glove and he's still not the no.1 choice.

A truly baffling signing in the first place.

Robbing Spurs blind

Over the past one-and-a-half years (76 weeks to be precise), the 25-time Republic of Ireland international has played 45 times for Spurs, where he has delivered no goals and just five assists, as per Transfermarkt.

In that time, his transfer valuation has dwindled, sinking down to £10.8m. And that's hardly a surprise given the fact that he's played only 3,241 minutes on the pitch, which works out to be about 72 minutes per appearance.

Doherty is thought to be sitting pretty on £74k-per-week, according to Salary Sport, and that's more than the likes of Sergio Reguilon (£68k-per-week), Davinson Sanchez (£67k-per-week) and Emerson Royal (£62k-per-week), who all start more games under Conte.

It means the 30-year-old has taken a total of £5.6m from chairman Daniel Levy's coffers in wages alone, meaning the total outlay of his transfer sits at £20.6m - and counting. He's still under contract until 2024.

That is an awful waste of money, indeed.

By comparison, Spurs signed Heung-min Son for an initial £22m back in 2015 and look at the impact he has had over the years. A stark contrast to that of the former Wolves ace.

It's fair to suggest that the Lilywhites have not got their value for Doherty and it's evident that he will never have a long-lasting impact here, especially considering his age and where he sits in the pecking order.

A weird signing to begin with, the Irishman has been nothing short of a disastrous signing for the north Londoners.

AND in other news, 17x possession lost: Spurs' shocking £25m-rated liability has just proven Conte so right...