Japhet Tanganga
English footballer (born 1999)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Japhet Manzambi Tanganga (born 31 March 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for and captains EFL Championship club Sheffield United.
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Tanganga with Millwall in 2025 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Japhet Manzambi Tanganga[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 31 March 1999[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Hackney, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.84 m)[3] | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Sheffield United | ||
| Number | 5 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2009–2019 | Tottenham Hotspur | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2019–2024 | Tottenham Hotspur | 27 | (0) |
| 2023–2024 | → FC Augsburg (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2024 | → Millwall (loan) | 18 | (2) |
| 2024–2025 | Millwall | 42 | (2) |
| 2025– | Sheffield United | 46 | (2) |
| International career | |||
| 2014–2015 | England U16 | 3 | (0) |
| 2016 | England U17 | 4 | (0) |
| 2016–2017 | England U18 | 6 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | England U19 | 11 | (1) |
| 2017–2019 | England U20 | 10 | (0) |
| 2021 | England U21 | 2 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 8 September 2026 (UTC) | |||
Early life
Tanganga was born in Hackney, Greater London,[4] to a Congolese family.[5] He attended Greig City Academy and joined the Tottenham Hotspur youth academy at the age of 10.[6]
Club career
Tottenham Hotspur
In June 2019, Tanganga extended his contract with Tottenham until 2020.[7] On 24 September 2019, he made his debut in the EFL Cup, in an away match to Colchester United.[8] Tanganga made his full Premier League debut on 11 January 2020, in a 1–0 home defeat against Liverpool.[9] Three days later he played the entire 90 minutes in an FA Cup replay against Middlesbrough, which Spurs won 2–1, and was named man of the match.[10]
On 27 July 2020, Tanganga signed a new contract with Tottenham, extending his contract until 2025.[11] However, he suffered from a series of injuries and, aside from a EFL Cup game against Chelsea in September, he did not play any games from March 2020 when League football was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic until 26 November 2020, in a UEFA Europa League match against Ludogorets Razgrad.[12][13][14] Following his return, he made only a few appearances for the remainder of the season.
On 16 August 2021, Tanganga started Tottenham's first game of the 2021–22 season, and was named man of the match in a 1–0 victory against Manchester City.[15] In a September Premier League game away at Crystal Palace, he was sent off after receiving two yellow cards in quick succession while the score was 0–0. Tottenham eventually lost 3–0.[16]
Tanganga was ruled out for the remainder of the 2021–22 season after he suffered a knee injury on 24 January 2022 in a 2–0 loss to Chelsea.[17] He made 19 appearances that season, 11 of which were in the league.
Tanganga was released by Tottenham at the end of the 2023–24 season.[18][19]
Loan to Augsburg
On 1 September, Tanganga joined Bundesliga club Augsburg on a season-long loan with an obligation to buy.[20] However, he did not make any appearances for Augsburg, sitting on the bench only once during his time there.[21] He returned to Tottenham in January 2024.[22]
Loan to Millwall
On 18 January 2024, Tanganga joined Millwall on loan until the end of the season.[23]
Millwall
On 10 July 2024, Tanganga joined Millwall on a permanent long-term contract.[24] He was named as the club's Player of the Year for the 2024–25.[25]
Sheffield United
On 28 August 2025, Tanganga joined fellow Championship club Sheffield United on a three-year deal for a significant undisclosed fee,[26] reported to be in the region of £7 million with up to a further £3 million in add-ons.[27] On 1 January 2026, he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 victory over Leicester City.[28]
Tanganga received a straight red card during a fixture against Charlton Athletic for a dangerous aerial challenge. The red card was appealed by Sheffield United but the appeal was ultimately denied a few days later. "Tanganga red card appeal rejected by FA".
International career
Tanganga has represented England at various youth levels at under-16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 teams.[6]
In 2014, Tanganga represented the England under-16 team against Scotland in the Victory Shield.[29] In 2017, he took part in the Toulon Tournament, coming on as a second-half substitute in the final as England defeated Ivory Coast to retain their title.[30]
Tanganga also played at the 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship and scored in their opening group game against Turkey.[31]
Although eligible to represent the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanganga stated in May 2020 that he intended to pursue an international career with England, saying: "In life you have to have goals and one of my goals is to be capped at senior level for England".[32]
On 2 October 2020, Tanganga received his first call-up to the England Under-21 squad [33] but withdrew on 5 October 2020 due to injury.[13][34] Tanganga eventually made his debut for the U21 side in the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, starting in a 2-0 group stage defeat to Portugal on 28 March 2021.[35]
Style of play
Tanganga is a versatile defender, comfortable both as a central defender and as a right back. He describes his approach as "aggressive," saying that "great players their talent can really hurt you. So my strategy is to make sure I get after him. Don't give him any time, don't give him the opportunity to get the head up and pass because he has the quality to do that."[36]
Career statistics
- As of match played 5 September 2026
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Tottenham Hotspur U23 | 2017–18[37] | — | — | — | — | — | 2[a] | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| 2018–19[38] | — | — | — | — | — | 3[a] | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||||
| Total | — | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||||||
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2019–20[39] | Premier League | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | |
| 2020–21[40] | Premier League | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | — | 13 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22[41] | Premier League | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3[d] | 0 | — | 19 | 0 | ||
| 2022–23[42] | Premier League | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | ||
| 2023–24[43] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 27 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | 50 | 0 | |||
| FC Augsburg (loan) | 2023–24[43] | Bundesliga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| Millwall (loan) | 2023–24[43] | Championship | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 2 | ||
| Millwall | 2024–25[44] | Championship | 40 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 43 | 2 | ||
| 2025–26[45] | Championship | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Millwall total | 60 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 4 | ||
| Sheffield United | 2025–26[45] | Championship | 40 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 40 | 1 | |
| 2026–27[46] | Championship | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | ||
| Total | 45 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 2 | ||
| Career total | 132 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 164 | 6 | ||
- Appearances in EFL Trophy
- Appearance in UEFA Champions League
- Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
