Japhet Tanganga

Japhet Tanganga
Tanganga with Tottenham Hotspur in 2020
Personal information
Full name Japhet Manzambi Tanganga[1]
Date of birth (1999-03-31) 31 March 1999 (age 25)[2]
Place of birth Hackney, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.84 m)[3]
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Millwall
Number 6
Youth career
2009–2019 Tottenham Hotspur
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2024 Tottenham Hotspur 27 (0)
2023–2024 → FC Augsburg (loan) 0 (0)
2024 → Millwall (loan) 18 (2)
2024– Millwall 15 (2)
International career
2014–2015 England U16 3 (0)
2016 England U17 4 (0)
2016–2017 England U18 6 (0)
2017–2018 England U19 11 (1)
2017–2019 England U20 10 (0)
2021 England U21 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:37, 6 December 2024 (UTC)

Japhet Manzambi Tanganga (born 31 March 1999) is an English footballer who plays as a defender for EFL Championship club Millwall.

Early life

Tanganga was born in Hackney, Greater London,[4] to a Congolese family.[5] He attended Greig City Academy and, at the age of 10, Tanganga joined the Tottenham Hotspur youth academy.[6]

Club career

Tottenham Hotspur

In June 2019, Tanganga had his contract with Tottenham extended until 2020.[7] On 24 September 2019, he made his debut in the EFL Cup away to Colchester United.[8] On 11 January 2020, Tanganga made his full Premier League debut in a 1–0 home defeat against Liverpool.[9] Three days later he played the full 90 minutes against Middlesbrough in a FA Cup replay, which Spurs won 2–1 and was named man of the match.[10]

On 27 July 2020, Tanganga signed a new contract with Tottenham, valid until 2025.[11] However, he suffered from a series of injuries, and apart from a EFL Cup game against Chelsea in September, did not play any games from March 2020 when League football was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic until 26 November 2020 in the UEFA Europa League match against Ludogorets Razgrad.[12][13][14] Following his return from injury, he made few appearances in the remainder of the season.

On 16 August 2021, Tanganga started Tottenham's first game of the 2021–22 season, and was named man of the match in a 1–0 victory against Manchester City.[15] In the September game away against Crystal Palace in the Premier League Tanganga received two yellow cards in quick succession and was sent off when the game was 0–0. Tottenham lost the game 3–0.[16]

Tanganga was ruled out for the remainder of the 2021–22 season after he suffered a knee injury on 24 January 2022 in a 2–0 loss to Chelsea.[17] He made 19 appearances in the season with 11 of them coming in the league.

Loans to Augsburg and Millwall

Tanganga joined Bundesliga club Augsburg, on 1 September on a season-long loan with an obligation to buy.[18] However he failed to play a single game for Augsburg in that time, having only sat on the bench once in that period.[19] He returned to Tottenham in January 2024.[20]

On 18 January 2024, Tanganga joined Championship club Millwall on loan for the remainder of the season.[21] He was released by Tottenham at the end of the 2023–24 season.[22][23]

Millwall

On 10 July 2024, Tanganga returned to Millwall on a permanent long-term contract.[24]

International career

Tanganga has represented England youth levels at under-16, 17, 18, 19 and 20.[6]

In 2014, Tanganga represented the England under-16 team against Scotland in the Victory Shield.[25] In 2017, he took part in the Toulon Tournament and was a second-half substitute in the final as England defeated Ivory Coast to retain their title.[26]

Tanganga also played at the 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship and scored in their opening group game against Turkey.[27]

Although also eligible to represent DR Congo, Tanganga stated in May 2020 that he intended to pursue an international career with England, saying: "In life you have to have goals and one of my goals is to be capped at senior level for England".[28]

On 2 October 2020, Tanganga received his first call up to the England U21 squad [29] but withdrew on 5 October 2020 due to injury.[13][30] Tanganga eventually made his U21 debut during the second game of England's 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship campaign, a 2–0 defeat to Portugal on 28 March 2021.[31]

Style of play

Tanganga is a versatile defender, comfortable both as a central defender and as a right back. He describes his approach as "aggressive," saying that "great players their talent can really hurt you. So my strategy is to make sure I get after him. Don't give him any time, don't give him the opportunity to get the head up and pass because he has the quality to do that."[32]

Career statistics

As of match played 30 November 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup EFL Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Tottenham Hotspur U23 2017–18[33] — — — — — 2[a] 0 2 0
2018–19[34] — — — — — 3[a] 0 3 0
Total — — — — 5 0 5 0
Tottenham Hotspur 2019–20[35] Premier League 6 0 3 0 1 0 1[b] 0 — 11 0
2020–21[36] Premier League 6 0 2 0 2 0 3[c] 0 — 13 0
2021–22[37] Premier League 11 0 1 0 4 0 3[d] 0 — 19 0
2022–23[38] Premier League 4 0 2 0 0 0 1[b] 0 — 7 0
2023–24[39] Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
Total 27 0 8 0 7 0 8 0 — 50 0
FC Augsburg (loan) 2023–24[39] Bundesliga 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — 0 0
Millwall (loan) 2023–24[39] Championship 18 2 0 0 0 0 — — 18 2
Millwall 2024–25[40] Championship 15 2 0 0 0 0 — — 15 2
Career total 60 4 8 0 7 0 8 0 5 0 83 4
  1. ^ a b Appearances in EFL Trophy
  2. ^ a b Appearance in UEFA Champions League
  3. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

Honours

Tottenham Hotspur

England U20

References

  1. ^ "Premier League clubs publish 2019/20 retained lists". Premier League. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  2. ^ "Japhet Tanganga: Overview". ESPN. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Japhet Tanganga: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Japhet Tanganga". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  5. ^ Eccleshare, Charlie. "Mourinho's new boy Tanganga: an old-fashioned, pacy defender..." The Athletic.
  6. ^ a b "Japhet Tanganga profile". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  7. ^ "Player update". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 7 June 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  8. ^ Stanton, John (24 September 2019). "Colchester United 0 - 0 Tottenham Hotspur". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  9. ^ McNulty, Phil (11 January 2020). "Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  10. ^ Emons, Michael (15 January 2020). "Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Middlesbrough, FA Cup third-round replay". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  11. ^ "Next step, next challenge for Japhet". Tottenham Hotspur. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  12. ^ McGrath, Mike (15 June 2020). "Exclusive: Japhet Tanganga ruled out of Tottenham's restart with back injury". The Telegraph. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  13. ^ a b Davies, Matt (5 October 2020). "Tottenham defender Japhet Tanganga withdraws from maiden England U21 squad with injury". The Evening Standard.
  14. ^ "You don't have a chance': Ludogorets coach raves about Tottenham after 4-0 loss". HITC. 27 November 2020.
  15. ^ "Tottenham 1-0 Man City: Heung-Min Son strike secures statement win for Spurs". Sky Sports. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  16. ^ Sutcliffe, Steve (11 September 2021). "Crystal Palace 3 – 0 Tottenham Hotspur". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  17. ^ "Season over for Tottenham defender Japhet Tanganga after knee surgery". 18 March 2022.
  18. ^ "Japhet Tanganga kommt auf Leihbasis zum FCA" [Japhet Tanganga comes to FCA on loan]. www.fcaugsburg.de (in German). 1 September 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  19. ^ "England - J. Tanganga - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway".
  20. ^ "Tanganga returns from loan".
  21. ^ "Millwall confirm Japhet Tanganga loan signing". www.millwallfc.co.uk. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  22. ^ "Player update". Tottenham Hotspur. 5 June 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  23. ^ Onyeagwara, Nnamdi (5 June 2024). "Tottenham confirm Sessegnon, Dier, Perisic and Tanganga departures". The Athletic. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  24. ^ "Japhet Tanganga signs for Millwall". www.millwallfc.co.uk. 10 July 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  25. ^ Bradbury, Jamie (20 November 2014). "England U16s see off Scotland in Victory Shield encounter". The Football Association. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  26. ^ a b "Spot on young Lions hold their nerve to retain Toulon tournament title". Football Association. 10 June 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  27. ^ "England beat Turkey 3-2 in European Under-19 Championship opener". BBC Sport. 17 July 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  28. ^ "Tottenham defender Japhet Tanganga sets his sights on England call-up when football resumes".
  29. ^ "ENGLAND MU21S SQUAD TO FACE ANDORRA AND TURKEY NAMED". The Football Association. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  30. ^ "BRANDON WILLIAMS, RHYS WILLIAMS AND SAM SURRIDGE JOIN MU21S AS FOUR WITHDRAW". The Football Association. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  31. ^ "YOUNG LIONS SUFFER SECOND CONSECUTIVE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP DEFEAT AGAINST PORTUGAL". The Football Association. 28 March 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  32. ^ Wallace, Sam (21 August 2021). "Japhet Tanganga interview: Spurs' homegrown star on his 'aggressive' approach and staying at the top". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  33. ^ "Games played by Japhet Tanganga in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  34. ^ "Games played by Japhet Tanganga in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  35. ^ "Games played by Japhet Tanganga in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  36. ^ "Games played by Japhet Tanganga in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  37. ^ "Games played by Japhet Tanganga in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  38. ^ "Games played by Japhet Tanganga in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  39. ^ a b c "Games played by Japhet Tanganga in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  40. ^ "Games played by Japhet Tanganga in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  41. ^ McNulty, Phil (25 April 2021). "Manchester City 1–0 Tottenham Hotspur". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
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