Wolves complete signing of free agent defender Matt Doherty

The 31-year-old becomes Julen Lopetegui's first outfield signing of the summer and returns to Wolves after leaving for Spurs in 2020 in a £15million move.

Doherty had his medical on Wednesday and has put pen to paper on a three-year deal.

“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 said.

“I’ve experienced some really good trips away in Europe and it was three years that I had a great time also, but I’ve managed to find my way back home.

“I always feel like I’m improving every single year. I’ve had some times when my form hasn’t been great and I’ve not been able to play as well as I would have liked, or as well as I did when I was at Wolves the first time.

“But I still feel like I have a lot to give and I know that I have a lot to give. Let’s hope that I’m able to keep improving under this new manager and that he can get the best out of me.

“It’s been great. 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.

“My kids were brought up here and my first was born during the first pre-season when Nuno arrived, so it’s kind of all that I’ve known really.”

The Republic of Ireland international, who signed for just £75,000 from League of Ireland side Bohemians, made more than 300 appearances for Wolves between 2010-2020 before leaving for London.

Spurs agreed to terminate his contract in January to allow him to leave for Atletico Madrid on a free transfer, but after making just two appearances for the Spanish side he was released at the end of the season.

Doherty now returns to Wolves to add experience and competition to their ranks, and battle Nelson Semedo for the right-back spot.

The defender will now head off to Portugal with the rest of the Wolves squad on Friday for their latest pre-season training camp.

They play Porto in a friendly on Tuesday evening, before travelling to Dublin to play Celtic on Saturday, July 29.

Doherty's arrival follows the signing of third choice goalkeeper Tom King, who joined earlier this month.

Sporting director Matt Hobbs added: “Matt’s come back to add some strength in depth to the full-back area, providing competition and making us better in those positions. He knows the club and what it means to play here – he’s been successful here and knows what the fans want. For us, it’s another homegrown player, but one who can share his knowledge and required standards across the group.

“Conversations have been really straightforward. I bumped into him on the golf course, and we had a brief conversation. I also spoke to his agent, and he’s been really keen. It’s been very quick, very simple. He’s shown he’s wanted to come back from the start, and it feels an opportunity to him.

“After Spurs and Atletico Madrid, he’s still got a lot to prove, and I think he wants to show people he’s still the player he was before. I had direct conversations with Doc himself and we’re really happy he’s back. It’s one the manager wanted when he knew he was available.

“I put it in to Julen and also the recruitment guys as a possibility after we spoke. Everyone knows our financial situation at the moment, meaning getting him on a free really worked for us, but it only really worked because it’s a player the manager wants. Doc was one of the players Julen was looking forward to working with the first time he nearly joined, and he has updated himself on his games for Ireland, Spurs and Atletico. He was really positive and wanted to get it done asap.”