![]() Tanganga in 2025 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Japhet Manzambi Tanganga [1] | ||
Date of birth | [2] | 31 March 1999||
Place of birth | Hackney, England | ||
Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.84 m) [3] | ||
Position(s) | Defender | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Sheffield United | ||
Number | 2 | ||
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 | 1 | (0) |
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 12:20, 31 August 2025 (UTC) |
Japhet Manzambi Tanganga (born 31 March 1999) is an English footballer who plays as a defender for EFL Championship club Sheffield United.
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]
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]
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]
On 18 January 2024, Tanganga joined Millwall on loan until the end of the season. [23]
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]
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]
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. [28] 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. [29]
Tanganga also played at the 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship and scored in their opening group game against Turkey. [30]
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". [31]
On 2 October 2020, Tanganga received his first call-up to the England Under-21 squad [32] but withdrew on 5 October 2020 due to injury. [13] [33] 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. [34]
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." [35]
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Tottenham Hotspur U23 | 2017–18 [36] | — | — | — | — | — | 2 [a] | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||
2018–19 [37] | — | — | — | — | — | 3 [a] | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||||
Total | — | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||||||
Tottenham Hotspur | 2019–20 [38] | Premier League | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 [b] | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | |
2020–21 [39] | Premier League | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 [c] | 0 | — | 13 | 0 | ||
2021–22 [40] | Premier League | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 [d] | 0 | — | 19 | 0 | ||
2022–23 [41] | Premier League | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 [b] | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | ||
2023–24 [42] | 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 [42] | Bundesliga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||
Millwall (loan) | 2023–24 [42] | Championship | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 2 | ||
Millwall | 2024–25 [43] | Championship | 40 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 43 | 2 | ||
2025–26 [44] | Championship | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
Total | 60 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 4 | ||
Sheffield United | 2025–26 [44] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Career total | 87 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 118 | 4 |
Tottenham Hotspur
England U20
Individual