The Sun journalist Tom Barclay feels Japhet Tanganga would be a ‘significant’ loss to Tottenham Hotspur this summer if he is allowed to leave.
According to Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via Sport Witness, the defender has ‘promised himself’ to Serie A champions Milan and ‘only has eyes’ for the Rossoneri.
The same source suggests that Spurs will look for a €20m (£16.7m) fee, but that the Italian outfit would prefer to seal a loan with an option to buy.
Tottenham managing director Fabio Paratici has been in Milan to discuss a possible transfer, but it is thought that the north London club would only be willing to sanction a temporary switch if it meant the Italian champions had an obligation to take Tanganga off their hands permanently in a year’s time.
Barclay has questioned whether or not allowing the two-cap England U21 international would be a reasonable decision given the effect it would have on their homegrown quota, however, he feels a move could prove fruitful in the long term for the club.
He told GiveMeSport: “The thing with Tanganga is he’s a homegrown player, so losing him would be quite significant because you’ve obviously got to fill those quotas both for the Premier League and the Champions League.
“If he’s not going to get some regular game time, then maybe going out on loan or permanently with a buyback clause wouldn’t be a bad idea.
“But Spurs have got so many games coming up that you do feel like, even if he’s not first-choice, he will get games this season.
“I’m not really sure on that one and I don’t know if that’s cut and dried.”
TIF Thoughts on Tanganga and Spurs…
Can Tanganga become a Spurs regular in the future?
Yes
No
The 23-year-old still has three years left on his contract with the Lilywhites and is in fact well-regarded by Antonio Conte but it remains to be seen if he will be in the manager’s thinking, having been ruled out from late January with a knee injury.
He made 11 Premier League appearances up until he was sidelined and 19 in all, but considering the recent arrival of Djed Spence and the club already being stacked on the right-hand side of the defence with Emerson Royal and Matt Doherty, it could be Tanganga on the chopping block this summer despite the amount of games coming Tottenham’s way this season.