Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur

Premier League • England

Tottenham man tipped to sign for Premier League rivals amid ‘rubbish’ season under Antonio Conte

Davinson Sanchez, Japhet Tanganga and Ryan Sessegnon

A pundit thinks a Tottenham defender will move to Premier League rivals Bournemouth in January due to him enduring a ‘rubbish’ few months under Antonio Conte.

Tottenham sit fourth in the Premier League, with 29 points. They are in a good position to qualify for next season’s Champions League, as they are ahead of big clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea.

Conte has been criticised for his style of play at times this season. Tottenham have lacked creativity in some matches, and are often heavily reliant on Harry Kane and Son Heung-min for inspiration in the final third.

But the Italian is still doing a good job. He is very experienced and will know exactly what Spurs have to do to remain in the top four.

Spurs are also in the last 16 of the Champions League after topping Group D. They will come up against AC Milan, which will see Conte go back to the San Siro following his successful spell at Inter.

A few Spurs players are not enjoying life under Conte. Djed Spence has managed just three minutes of Premier League football since his £20m arrival in the summer. Conte immediately labelled him a signing for the club, which effectively set the right-back up for failure.

Midfielder Yves Bissouma also had a tough start to life in north London. Conte kept him out of the starting eleven for most league games towards the start of the season, saying he had to improve tactically before getting his opportunity.

Luckily the 26-year-old has done just that and has now made a spot in the midfield his own.

Tottenham defender out of the picture

Japhet Tanganga is enduring a torrid spell under Conte. He has made just one appearance this season, which came in the Champions League and lasted only 17 minutes.

The centre-half, who can also play as a right-back, is low in Conte’s pecking order. As a result, he could be let go by the club this winter.

Spurs expert John Wenham believes Tanganga should be allowed to join Bournemouth as he is having a terrible campaign at Spurs.

“He’s only played once this season, off the bench in the Champions League, it’s a bit rubbish, isn’t it?” Wenham said during an interview with Football Insider.

“Where are we at with him? For his own benefit, he needs to go and do something else. Is that going out on loan for six months?

“I think that’s the best bet to increase his value. In the summer we saw journalists reporting that Bournemouth were interested.

“Well, get Bournemouth back on the phone and ask if they want him on loan from January. That would be the best thing for him.

“His value is low at the moment because he isn’t playing but with a Premier League loan under his belt, his value would substantially rise.

“We have to think about that though because he would need to be replaced.”

Earlier this month, reports in Italy claimed Spurs had pretty much halved their asking price for Tanganga. While they previously asked for £16.8m from interested clubs like Bournemouth, they will now accept offers worth just £8.75m.

Meanwhile, Spurs chiefs will be ‘actively monitoring’ a Uruguay star at the World Cup, according to one journalist.