Millwall loanee Japhet Tanganga is facing an uncertain future at Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur and his agent admits that renewed interest from Italy’s Serie A would be more than welcome.
It is no secret that, during the summer of 2022, the former England under-21 came close to following in the footsteps of Fikayo Tomori, swapping life on the bench in London for a fresh start at the San Siro.
Roberto de Fanti, Japhet Tanganga’s agent, confirmed a few months ago that Antonio Conte ‘blocked’ his purported move to AC Milan. 12 months later, the versatile defender would again see a potential switch to Italian football fall through.
Torino showed an interest before Alessandro Buongiorno turned down a move to Atalanta.
And, speaking again about a fresh start in central Europe, De Fanti is keen to make clear that the opportunity to take the path-less-travelled from Millwall to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona would be one Tanganga may be tempted to grab with both hands.
“He has a contract with Tottenham, who can exercise the option for another year,” De Fanti tells Calcio Napoli 24. “Otherwise, he will be (a) free (agent in the summer). We should wait to see what happens.”
“How can you not consider Napoli? The player was close to (joining) Milan a year-and-a-half ago. Naples is a top destination. Should there be any interest, we would be happy.”
Napoli, like Milan, showed an interest in the Hackney-born stopper back in 2022. The reigning Scudetto holders may be tempted to renew that pursuit, especially after they lost out to Tottenham in the £26 million race to sign Radu Dragusin from Genoa in January.
Tanganga, meanwhile, is currently providing a timely reminder of his talents, albeit in England’s second tier with Millwall. The Tottenham academy graduate, who was once a regular fixture under Jose Mourinho, scored his first ever senior goal in a shock win at Southampton and also notched a stoppage time winner against Birmingham City last time out.
‘Absolutely brilliant. It’s lovely to see what we are seeing with Japhet Tanganga,” EFL expert Ali Maxwell says on the Not the Top 20 Podcast. “It’s obviously someone who is quite well known to Premier League fans, and clearly it’s been a difficult few years for him.
“The loss of confidence that you can imagine, the loss of rhythm… It must be really difficult. So it’s great to see that he has regained it at Millwall.
“I certainly was surprised when I saw Millwall sign Tanganga on loan,” Maxwell adds, two-and-a-half years after the Tottenham graduate was named Man of the Match in a 1-0 victory over Manchester City to kick off the Nuno Espirito Santo era in North London.
“Just because we are used to seeing him play big matches for Spurs.
“Tanganga has been absolutely brilliant. A really front-footed defender, seems to absolutely adore defending. Some of their victories under Harris has been Tanganga’s defensive displays which have helped them get over the line and, here, it was a great header.”
