Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte gave ‘glowing’ references for Millwall new boy Japhet Tanganga

BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk

Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte both gave glowing character references for Millwall new boy Japhet Tanganga.

The Tottenham centre-back, 24, has joined the Lions on loan for the remainder of the season.

Millwall had made a couple of big offers for Leeds United’s Charlie Cresswell but were unable to agree terms and so pursued short-term targets.

Lions head coach Joe Edwards was on the England coaching staff and worked with Tanganga when they won the Toulon Tournament in 2017.

“I’d seen him progress up to the Premier League and Champions League and then he dropped off a little bit – the ups and downs are normal,” Edwards told the South London Press. “One query you often have is whether that is down to the mentality or attitude, because they get that taste of Premier League football – a bit more exposure and money. Some don’t cope well with it.

“I was really interested to know if anything had played a part in the last year or so.

“Japh played under Mourinho and Conte at Tottenham – I know them both. When this did start to progress last week I spoke to them both about what he was like as a lad.

“They are two managers in the game who hold players to incredibly high standards, that are big on attitude and strong mentality.

“I was already impressed from afar that they were both playing Japh in their team.

“Both were very complimentary about his mentality – that he is a top lad with a top attitude. That was a big plus and, from there, it was all about being confident we could get him to a place we need physically.”

Tanganga, capped at England U21 level, had been on loan at Augsburg in the first half of the campaign. He has made 50 first-team appearances for Spurs.