AC Milan have ramped up their efforts to land Tottenham Hotspur defender Japhet Tanganga this summer on loan, according to the Italian outlet Milan News.
Tanganga endured a season-ending injury in the previous campaign after he suffered a blow to his knee in the 2-0 loss to Chelsea back in January and is working back to full fitness after appearing in both of Tottenham’s matches during their pre-season tour to South Korea.
The academy graduate is said to have become open to moving to Milan recently, which has prompted them to “intensify” their pursuit. The Serie A champions have turned their attention towards the versatile defender after losing out on Sven Botman, who joined Newcastle United for a reported fee of £32million plus £2.5million in add-ons (BBC).
Stefano Piolo’s side are looking to prise away Tanganga on an initial loan move, with the deal also including an option to buy him permanently after his stint at the San Siro. It is claumd that the structure of his transfer will be revealed shortly, indicating that an exit is on the cards.
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The 23-year-old made 11 appearances under Antonio Conte in the last campaign (Transfermarkt), which shows how the boss often depended upon him during that period. After all, Tanganga was out of contention for a large part under Conte, highlighting the trust the manager put in him.
Hence, if the Italian coach wants Tanganga to stay in N17, Fabio Paratici and co must do their best to keep hold of him, especially when Joe Rodon could leave this summer. Rodon is tipped to move to Fulham in this transfer window (Calciomercato), giving us more reason to keep Tanganga.
However, arguments can also be made for Tanganga’s sale, considering how the lack of consistency has been a key issue of his game. Not to mention, mistakes have also plagued him during his time with us, although that could be refined as time passes on, with Conte working on getting the best out of him.
Perhaps that could be on the cards as Tanganga did play down speculation over his future recently and even revealed how Conte views him as one of the wide centre-halves (Football.London). That means with Cristian Romero and Davinson Sanchez battling it out for the right centre-back role, Tanganga could be going up against Clement Lenglet, who joined us from Barcelona on a season-long loan move (Daily Mail).
