Millwall lauded for "really sound" Sheffield United, Tanganga transfer business | OneFootball

Millwall are set to lose defender Japhet Tanganga to Sheffield United.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Millwall's solid start to their 2025-26 Championship season has been rather overshadowed by the ongoing transfer saga regarding defender Japhet Tanganga.

The defender has been on the radar of a number of clubs this summer following an impressive 2024-25 season with the Lions.

It now seems just about certain that Tanganga will be joining Sheffield United, but while his departure will leave a hole in the Millwall defence that needs plugging, they are set to receive a fee of £7 million for him, which could rise to £10 million with add-ons, a decent payout for the Lions, considering that they signed him upon the expiry of his contract with former club Spurs, after having had him on loan for half a season first.

"A good opportunity" - Millwall urged to strengthen ahead of closure of transfer window as Tanganga heads for the exit

We spoke to our resident Millwall fan pundit Lucas Ball about the transfer and its implications for his club, and he's pleased that the Lions ended up getting a good price for him: "I think it's a really good deal for Tanganga in the end. Obviously to not lose him for a small fee, particularly with the Premier League clause that's in there, and he could have potentially been going for a free transfer next summer.

"We rejected bids from a couple of Italian clubs earlier in the window as well which were well below the asking price, so I think that getting this deal done for £7-8 million with the potential of £2-3 million in add-ons is a really sound bit of business by the club in terms of sales."

Lucas is aware of the financial pressures of the Championship, and is optimistic that his club can use the money on reinforcements: "With our sudden spate of injuries and a couple of things that have cropped up in the early season games, we do still need some more bodies through the door, so I think it's a good opportunity to do that and be active in the transfer market in the last week or so of the window being open."

We also asked Lucas about Tristan Crama, who will likely fill the gap left by Tanganga's departure in the short-term, at least: "He's a player who's done really well for us over the last 18 months or so, but Tristan Crama was certainly brought in with one eye on a Tanganga departure eventually, and fortunately for us he's settled in to playing for Millwall already, having spent so much time at right-back now for us since January, and he's done very well throughout.

"But he's also been pretty good in the three or four games that he has played at centre-back, and I think moving forward it is his long-term position and the better position for him."

But while Lucas has praise for Clama, he also feels that his club could look at a different type of player as part of their remaining transfer window business: "We've seen it a lot of times when he's played at right-back, he gets into some really good positions going forward, but his end product does need a lot of work.

"That's not to say that at times it wasn't very good. That cross at Norwich on the opening day for Camiel Neghli's goal, for example, was very good, but I think it would be nice for us if we could look to get a slightly more attack-minded right-back to complement the other options we've got there.

"Ryan Leonard's fairly defensively strong, Danny McNamara when he's back from injury is better known for his defensive prowess than his attacking ability. So, probably somebody who can go both ways a little bit more would be the ideal signing, but we'll see what business the club decides they need to do."

Tanganga could have left Millwall for a lot less than he actually did

There was a risk that Millwall could have lost Japhet Tanganga for a relatively paltry £1.2 million earlier in the summer, when it became evident that there was a release clause in his contract for that amount. However, this clause only applied to Premier League clubs, but despite rumours of interest from a couple of them, nothing ended up being moved forward and the clause expired.

And the club made more than a token effort to retain his services. It was confirmed at a Fans Forum at the end of July that they had offered him a new contract, but this wasn't accepted and the inevitability of the move was clear from the fact that he wasn't included in the Millwall team for their 1-0 win at Bramall Lane last weekend.

For a Championship club not in receipt of Premier League parachute payments, the fee agreed for Tanganga is a lot of money. And this windfall does allow Millwall an opportunity to further rebuild in the areas that they need. Millwall's biggest single issue last season was scoring goals. They only managed 47 in their 46 League matches, the third-lowest total in the division, despite finishing the season in 8th place in the table. This money may offer them the opportunity to boost their attacking options, as well as other positions, as they continue their push to go one better than last season.