Japhet Tanganga makes claim about Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen after leaving Tottenham on loan | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur defender Japhet Tanganga has admitted Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen were big mentors for him during their time at the club.

The 24-year-old is currently away from the club having joined Championship side Millwall on a short-term loan basis.

However, he has been speaking about his time in north London prior to leaving on loan to play more regular first team football.

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Tanganga hails Alderweireld and Vertonghen

In what has been a tricky season for the defender to navigate, he now finds himself playing Championship football with Millwall.

His time in the Bundesliga earlier in the season did not produce a single minute of football and, therefore, saw him return in the winter window.

Life in the Championship has not exactly been kind to the Spurs man with no wins to their name since his arrival.

But in an interview with Sky Sports, he has been speaking about how the former Spurs defenders, Alderweireld and Vertonghen, helped him develop his own game at Hotspur Way: “They were big helps to me when I was coming through, you know, they spoke to me a lot.

“Coming in at such a young age and stuff, they were really there to help me. Just like working under those top managers, I worked with some top players in my position or in other positions that I could watch how professional they were, what they did in my position and take that and use it in my game.”

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Will Tanganga return to Tottenham

Having given away a crucial penalty in their recent loss to Coventry City last weekend, Tanganga found himself reduced to the bench for their emphatic 4-0 defeat against Ipswich Town on Wednesday.

He has spoken about his desire to potentially play under Ange Postecoglou in the future with the belief his style of football suits his game.

But it does feel like a long way back for the Englishman if he is to make any route into the Australian’s plans.

We now have serious quality in the backline with Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven offering us the first solid partnership since the Belgian duo left over the last few years.

And even with Radu Dragusin lying in wait, there would need to be an awful lot to go in Tanganga’s favour for him to have a bright future at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Although it does seem as if he has a lot of self belief about him given he has spoken about his desire to lift the Ballon d’Or award.