Former Tottenham star wakes up unemployed after breaking unwanted record in miserable spell at LaLiga giants

FORMER Tottenham star Matt Doherty has been released by Atletico Madrid.

The right-back joined the Spanish giants on deadline day in January after being released by Spurs.

But he failed to impress manager Diego Simeone and is looking for a new club after a disastrous spell in the Spanish capital.

Doherty, 31, arrived as a back-up to Nahuel Molina and has been limited to a substitute role over the last few months.

He played just 16 minutes and set a new record for the least amount of game time for a foreign player.

The Irishman featured in just two games and was unable to displace Molina, despite fears the Argentina international would suffer from fatigue after the World Cup.

Doherty is now looking to revitalise his career following an underwhelming spell at Spurs too.

He made just 44 Premier League appearances for the North London club across two-and-a-half years, scoring three goals.

Despite his lack of game time Doherty revealed he was enjoying his time in Spain and wanted to use the experience to improve as a player.

He said: "The reason I left was… well, initially it was just to go on loan for the rest of the season and then obviously we had the problems with too many loans, so then it was a case of I couldn’t really say no to that type of experience and a manager of his calibre.

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"I didn’t have long to think about it, but the time I did have, I just couldn’t say no to that opportunity.

"I am there until the end of the season and I am just using it as a learning experience. I am improving by training with world-class players every day. I am using the six months I have there to try and get better, to try and understand the game better and improve my overall game."