Agent reveals Antonio Conte blocked current Tottenham loanee’s transfer to AC Milan in 2022

Agent reveals Antonio Conte blocked Tottenham star Japhet Tanganga’s transfer to AC Milan in 2022

According to agent Roberto De Fanti, Antonio Conte stopped Japhet Tanganga from going to AC Milan from Tottenham Hotspur.

The Italian tactician handed only 16 appearances to the 24-year-old Englishman during his tenure at Spurs. But perhaps he didn’t want to sacrifice his team’s defensive depth when AC Milan came calling in 2022.

De Fanti revealed, via Italian outlet Tuttomercatoweb.com:

“[Davide] Vagnati [Torino sporting director] has always had a great passion for Tanganga, a defender who debuted with Mourinho and also played with Conte who blocked his transfer to Milan in 2022. It then happened that [Alessandro] Buongiorno did not go to Atalanta [from Torino] and the negotiation fell through.”

Conte, of course, left the club towards the tail end of the 2022-23 season.

So, it seems that multiple Italian clubs were interested in signing Tanganga. Perhaps they have been on the lookout for another Fikayo Tomori after the Englishman’s success with I Rossoneri since leaving Chelsea.

Tanganga was loaned out to Augsburg in Germany this summer, clearly proving that Ange Postecoglou didn’t rate him that highly. The Australian-Greek manager has made some changes to our defence.

What should Spurs do?

The likes of Destiny Udogie are getting a chance while Eric Dier has been frozen out of the XI. Cristian Romero is a pinned starter for us while Micky van de Ven, being Postecoglou’s signing, was always going to be a starter.

Davinson Sanchez is Postecoglou’s third-choice centre-back. On the right flank, where Tanganga can deputize, Spurs have Pedro Porro and Emerson Royal, and in the longer run, Djed Spence.

Tanganga has yet to play a single minute for his new club. It seems highly unlikely that the Spurs academy graduate has a future in N17, at least with the first team.

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The best situation would be, for all parties, to cut ties and end Tanganga’s 14-year association with the club as soon as possible. We just seem to have better alternatives for now.