Daniel Farke 'a fan' of defender with bargain £1.2m release clause - he scored vs Leeds United last season
Leeds United have been linked with a number of top player from their former Championship rivals.
Leeds United have been linked with a summer move for Millwall’s Japhet Tanganga with reports suggesting Daniel Farke is ‘a fan’ of the defender - who could be available for a bargain price.
Farke will be keen to add depth in central defence ahead of Leeds’ Premier League return, particularly on the right where Joe Rodon is his only natural senior option. The Welshman has been virtually ever-present for two years but injury last season could have spelled disaster, with Josuha Guilavogui or James Debayo the only right-footed cover.
As such, Leeds have already been linked with some more high profile centre-back options, most recently Udinese’s £17m-rated Slovenian international Jaka Bijol, but now the Guardian reports on links to former Championship rival Tanganga. In a round-up of each Premier League club’s early plans, their reporter Louise Taylor claims Farke is ‘a fan’ of the Millwall defender.
Tanganga proved to be one of the Championship’s best centre-backs last season, starting 40 of Millwall’s 46 league games as they just missed out on the play-offs. The London club conceded 49 goals in their 46 league games and the former Tottenham Hotspur man was central to that solidity.
In the 40 games Tanganga started, Millwall conceded 37 goals at a rate of just under 1.1 per 90 minutes. That average increased significantly in the 26-year-old’s absence, with 12 goals conceded in six games at a rate of exactly two per game - the Lions also lost four of those half-dozen games without the former Tottenham Hotspur man.
Tanganga also scored two goals for Millwall last season, the most notable being a November winner as Leeds lost 1-0 at the Den. The physical defender showed his defter side to stab Jake Cooper’s knockdown header beyond Illan Meslier as the first-half drew to a close before going on to defend his way to a clean sheet and three points.
Japhet Tanganga release clause latest amid Leeds United links
Those numbers will no doubt be of interest to several clubs eyeing defensive reinforcements and what’s more, Tanganga could be available for just £1.2million - a bargain price by modern standards. Millwall signed the defender as a free agent last summer and as part of the deal, are believed to have inserted the clause which freelance south London journalist Richard Cawley suggests might only be available for Premier League clubs.
"Well, it’s absolutely nothing really when you think about it, with the fees that we see these days,” Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie recently told FLW of that reported release clause. “But obviously he sees himself stepping back into the Premier League which - I’ve watched him at Millwall quite a lot - and you can see that he’s got that strength, that power.
"To be fair he obviously backs himself to take that step up, but yes, I'd be very surprised if one of the newly-promoted clubs wouldn’t take a punt on him. I think it’d be crazy if they didn’t go and activate that release clause, he can definitely do a job for sure so it would not surprise me if that was in the summertime it happens."
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