Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur

Premier League • England

Season over at 19 appearances for Tottenham star after surgery, reducing Conte options

Japhet Tanganga playing for Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur will be without Japhet Tanganga for the remainder of the season after he underwent surgery, the club have confirmed.

Tanganga has gone under the knife to repair an injury to his right knee, a club statement has confirmed. His recovery process will keep him away from action until the pre-season schedule begins. It curtails his season at the point of 19 appearances, 11 of which have come under current head coach Antonio Conte and eight came under predecessor Nuno Espirito Santo.

The defender, who turns 23 at the end of the month, will now have to wait until next season to get back in action. In his absence, Conte will continue to rely on Cristian Romero, Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez at centre-half. Joe Rodon is another option, although his gametime has been limited.

Tanganga was enjoying his busiest season as a professional yet. Although his performance levels have been up and down, he has surpassed any appearance tallies from previous years.

Now, he has to wait to add to his overall Tottenham tally, which currently stands at 43 appearances. He has never scored or assisted a goal for the club, although it is obviously not his responsibility as a defender.

Tanganga’s last appearance for Spurs came on January 23rd, when he went off after 56 minutes of a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea.

He joins fellow academy graduate Oliver Skipp on the sidelines. The midfielder has also been missing since January due to physical issues.

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It has left Conte with a headache in midfield and now he could face similar concerns with his backline.

What the future holds for Tanganga in the long-term remains to be seen. He was linked with a move away to AC Milan in January, but nothing materialised.

Japhet Tanganga controlling the ball for Tottenham Hotspur

The Serie A side’s interest was driven by an injury to one of their own defenders, Simon Kjaer, who will likely be back by the time Tanganga recovers.

His focus will therefore be on getting back for pre-season with Tottenham, who have him under contract until 2025.

Tottenham ready to open defender talks

Meanwhile, Spurs are being tipped to strengthen their backline ahead of Conte’s first full season in charge.

Reports have linked them with a move for impressive Torino centre-back Gleison Bremer. The Brazilian is also supposedly of interest to Liverpool.

According to Tuttosport, which is a newspaper based in Turin, a bid of €25m should do the trick. Torino are expecting offers for Bremer in the summer.

Tottenham are among the potential bidders. Conte and managing director Fabio Paratici are aware of the player from their time working in Italy.

They could use that to their advantage in the race to sign him. Torino are mulling over whether to invite straight-cash offers or potential part-exchange deals.

Should Bremer arrive, it would push Tanganga down the Tottenham pecking order. For now, that cannot be of concern to him; instead, he must focus on his recovery from his current setback.

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