Wolves football chief Matt Hobbs has welcomed the return of Matt Doherty.

The defender has signed a three-year deal with Wolves after being released by Atletico Madrid last month.

Hobbs said: “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 (Lopetegui) 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."