Tottenham finalising £15m Matt Doherty transfer paving way for Serge Aurier exit

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Dan Kilpatrick @Dan_KP27 August 2020

Tottenham are confident of making Wolves full-back Matt Doherty their third signing of the summer, paving the way for Serge Aurier to leave the club.

Spurs and Wolves are finalising the details of a deal worth £15million plus add-ons for the 28-year-old Republic of Ireland international, who has been at Molineux for a decade and has three years remaining on his contract.

Doherty, who would count as another homegrown in Spurs' Premier League squad, made nearly 50 appearances last season as Wolves made a deep run in the Europa League, impressing Spurs manager Jose Mourinho. As well as right-back, he can play on the left side of defence, in midfield and even at centre-half.

The Irishman recently changed representation to super-agent Jorge Mendes, a close associate of Mourinho who is influential in the running of Wolves.

Spurs have already offloaded right-back Kyle Walker-Peters to Southampton this summer but Doherty's likely arrival is set to signal the end of Aurier's three years in north London.

The Ivory Coast international has two years remaining on his contract and has little interest in agreeing a new deal, having agitated for a move in the last two summers.

AC Milan are among a number of clubs interested in Aurier but Spurs want €25m for the 27-year-old, with the clubs still someway apart in negotiations.

Milan sporting director Fredric Massara this week described Aurier as "an excellent player" but insisted he is not a "priority" signing.

Aurier has been a regular since Mourinho's arrival last November and started all nine matches after the Premier League restart, even the final three games of the season following the death of his brother.

Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I

But Mourinho's reservations about the former Paris Saint-Germain player were revealed in the first three episodes of Amazon Prime's documentary about the club's season, All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur, which will be released on Monday.

In one of his first pre-match team talks, Mourinho is seen telling Aurier: “Serge, you are going to be one of the markers, you speak good English? I am afraid of you as a marker because you are capable of doing a s*** penalty with VAR. So I am afraid of you.”

Spurs have already signed Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from Southampton in a deal worth £3million plus Walker-Peters, and free agent Joe Hart as Mourinho looks to rebuild his squad on a shoestring budget.