Tottenham Hotspur club ambassador Ledley King has revealed that Japhet Tanganga was someone who impressed him during the ex-defender’s stint as assistant coach at Spurs.
King was part of Jose Mourinho’s backroom staff at Tottenham and speaking on That Peter Crouch Podcast on YouTube, he revealed that Tanaganga was someone who caught his eye at the time.
“There was a lot of good players at the club. Japhet Tanganga during that period of time started to come through. We started to do quite a bit of work with him, extra work.
“I was showing Jose some of his clips from the under-21s, under-23s. And I felt that he had some good habits as a defender we could work on. And he got his break during that period of time.”
Eventually, it seems like Mourinho was convinced of Tanganga’s talent, with the Portuguese manager handing the 24-year-old his Premier League debut in the 1-0 defeat to Liverpool in January 2020.
While Mourinho did not remain at the helm for long in N17, Tanganga managed to make a place for himself in the team with the arrival of subsequent managers like Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte.
(Photo by Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)
Is Japhet Tanganga’s Tottenham career over?
The England U21 international’s versatility saw him being deployed as a right-back and centre-back on a number of occasions; unfortunately, constant injuries hampered Tanganga’s development and game time.
Tanganga showcased immense potential, but for whatever reason, he has been unable to fulfil that promise in North London. The defender sealed a much-needed loan move to Augsburg in the summer transfer window.
The Bundesliga is known to bring the best out of young players, and hopefully, Tanganga will be able to get back on track during his time in Germany.
For now, Spurs can rely on Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven in their backline, with the Premier League and FA Cup the only competitions Tottenham have to focus on.
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It is no mean feat to impress someone like King, and all is not lost for Tanganga at Tottenham, despite Augsburg’s conditional obligation to buy the defender next summer, as per the Daily Mail.
If Tanganga can revive his career in the Bundesliga and find consistency, a return to the Lilywhites could seemingly be on the cards for the centre-back in the future.
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