Millwall can launch a serious promotion push - but one transfer issue might stop them | OneFootball

Millwall arguably overachieved in 2024-25 and could go further next time around, but there's one transfer situation that they really need resolved.

Millwall were one of the surprise packages in the Championship last season.

They could go further next season, but current uncertainty over the future of Japhet Tanganga could hold them back.

Millwall had an excellent 2024-25 in the Championship, finishing the season in 8th place, just two points short of the play-offs.

This is a great position to be able to push on and build something even greater, and the club has already been active this summer, paying a club-record transfer fee of £5 million to make the loan move of striker Josh Coburn from Middlesbrough permanent.

But there remains one outstanding issue which could yet throw a spanner in the works of Millwall improving on last season.

Japhet Tanganga had an outstanding season in Millwall's defence

There is no doubt that Millwall acquiring the services of Japhet Tanganga from Spurs was a coup for the club.

Tanganga arrived on loan from Spurs in January 2024, and the Lions were able to make his move permanent the following summer.

The defender had an outstanding season at the heart of the Millwall defence, but this has brought with it the attention of other clubs, particularly with the news that he has a relatively modest £1.2 million release clause written into his contract.

This has led to intense speculation that Tanganga will be leaving the club this summer, but despite all the rumours nothing has yet been confirmed.

If Millwall are to lose Tanganga, they need it tied up quickly and painlessly

It may be that this state of uncertainty is worse for Millwall than actually losing the player straight away.

Should he depart, manager Alex Neil will need a replacement, and that player will then have to be brought into a system within which Tanganga was a key player.

At least, were a deal to be tied up for his departure, both manager and the club would know where they stand and would be able to get on with rebuilding their defence without him.

According to a report in TeamTalk, Millwall are already "resigned" to losing him this summer, with a number of clubs interested in his services, including Wolves and Sunderland in the Premier League, as well as several abroad.

This isn't surprising.

£1.2 million is an exceptionally low price for a player of his quality.

The appeal of moving on to Tanganga is clear. Capology estimate that he took a £15,000-a-week pay cut to leave Spurs for Millwall, and a return to the top flight would likely involve a pay increase back towards that sort of level, while a move abroad could offer him top-flight or perhaps even European football.

And Tanganga is clearly giving careful consideration to where he might move next.

He's already, for example, been reported to have turned down an offer from Leeds United. But with journalist Alan Nixon having reported that it's considerably more likely that the player will end up in France and Germany, Tanganga's rejection of Leeds shouldn't be considered an indication that he's intending to stay at The Den.

Tanganga was such a key player for Millwall last season that replacing him may require time and care.

The race for the play-off places in the Championship seems set to be extremely open next season.

Every point will count, and the Lions can't afford for this to be a transfer saga that drags on for too much longer.