Millwall’s greatest January fear concerns Japhet Tanganga | OneFootball

Tanganga's superb performances will surely attract Premier League interest.

Millwall have endured a fairly mixed first half of the 2024/25 Championship season, and it's culminated with manager Neil Harris deciding that time is up on his second permanent tenure in the dugout.

A run of six league games without a win has seen the Lions slip to 13th after an extremely promising start, and with Neil Harris announcing his surprise resignation last week, the South London club's immediate future looks to be up in the air once again.

One thing that has been a constant at The Den this season, however, has been the performances of Japhet Tanganga. The 25-year-old has been outstanding in the Millwall backline, turning out consistent top quality displays.

With the January transfer window on the horizon, Millwall will surely worry about the potential of losing their star man, with Premier League interest destined to come sooner rather than later if he continues his imperious form.

Japhet Tanganga has been outstanding for Millwall in 2024

Tanganga’s performances so far this campaign have been nothing short of outstanding. The former Tottenham Hotspur defender has cemented himself alongside 19-year-old home-grown forward Romain Esse as one of the most valuable assets that Millwall have.

The centre back has been a vital part of the Lions defence that has conceded more than just six other teams in the Championship – and those six teams are six of the division’s current top seven.

Millwall picked up Tanganga initially on loan in January, after a loan spell at Bundesliga side Augsburg had left him starved of game time in the first half of 2023-24.

The Lions moved quickly to make the move permanent in July, following the expiry of his Tottenham contract. Millwall boss Neil Harris described him as the club’s “number one target” over the summer, and it’s been clear to see why.

Tanganga has missed just three league games so far this season, two as a result of a red card on the final day of last season, and the other for picking up five yellow cards. In the 17 league games that Tanganga has been available for so far, he is yet to miss a minute and the Lions are yet to concede more than once when he has featured - he even has two league goals to his name already.

The Hackney-born defender was nominated for the Championship’s Player of The Month award for November, after Millwall conceded just three goals from five league games, as well as defeating both Leeds United and Burnley at The Den - a sign that Harris has been doing well as manager despite the fact he has decided to leave.

With all this considered, top-flight interest in Tanganga is seemingly inevitable, and is perhaps more a case of when than if.

Millwall should be worried about potential Premier League interest in Japhet Tanganga

It goes without saying that Tanganga’s performances will have attracted attention from English football’s top table, especially when he has already proven himself to be a capable defender at Premier League level.

He made 50 senior appearances for Tottenham, with 27 of those coming in the Premier League between 2019 and 2023, so he has a level of experience in the top flight.

Tanganga will likely represent a very appealing option for several Premier League sides, as it’s not very often you find a player who has experience of Champions League, Europa League and Premier League experience at 25, but would also serve as a relatively cheap option (by top-flight standards).

With Millwall not one of the Championship’s big spenders, the prospect of potentially losing one of their star men for fairly little will no doubt be a worrying one. They can, however, take solace from his contract situation.

Tanganga signed a “long-term deal” with Millwall in the summer which could at least provide them with crucial bargaining power to secure a substantial fee, should one of the big boys come knocking in January.

With their manager hunt set to begin imminently and adding more firepower surely a priority, Millwall appear to be in for a busy January period. However, if they can find a way to keep hold of their rock at the back, it could very easily become the best piece of business of their window.