Jose Mourinho reportedly blocked January loan for ‘fantastic’ Spurs talent

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Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho reportedly blocked a deadline day loan move for Spurs defender Japhet Tanganga, according to The Athletic.

The Tottenham academy graduate was said to be on the radar of Premier League duo Southampton and West Bromwich Albion, plus Scottish outfit Celtic.

However, Mourinho did not allow Tanganga to leave ahead of the January transfer window shutting.

The 21-year-old enjoyed a great breakthrough season with Tottenham last term, making his debut in the League Cup defeat to Colchester before making his Premier League bow against Liverpool on 11 January.

Although Tottenham fell to a 1-0 defeat, Tanganga – part of a three-man defence along with Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sanchez – put in a great performance against one of world football’s strongest front lines.

This term, however, the versatile defender has only made seven appearances in all competitions, and none in the Premier League.

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Tanganga was very much one of Tottenham’s success stories during a difficult 2019-20 campaign, making his first-team breakthrough and looking like a future regular.

Mourinho is a big fan, having described his debut against Liverpool as “fantastic” and saying he did “amazingly”.

Injuries have sadly hampered his progress this term, but he’s now fit again and still not getting much game time, so you can understand why some clubs wanted to try their luck.

At the same time, Spurs’ defence has been shaky in recent weeks, both centrally and on the flanks.

You’d think there’s a good chance Tanganga could be called upon, either to replace an underperforming player or just to cover for injury, illness or fatigue, so it makes sense why Mourinho wouldn’t have wanted him to go.