Report: Newcastle linked with loan for Tottenham’s Tanganga

AC Milan has been the club most closely linked with a move for Tottenham Hotspur central defender Japhet Tanganga, but according to one Italian source there’s a new player in game. Marco Conterio of tuttomercatoweb tweeted today that Newcastle United has offered a season-long loan with a purchase obligation for Japhy, which may appeal more to Spurs than shipping him off to Italy.

One of the frustrations I have of Tottenham Hotspur basically being an Italian club at this point is that we now have to actually pay attention to Italian news media sources that we would normally dismiss out of hand. But now that Spurs have an Italian head coach and director of football and are actively shopping in Serie A like an overeager child at a buffet, I have to actually look at a source like tuttomercatoweb and think “well, is this plausible?”

And the truth is, I have absolutely no idea. It’s not crazy to me that an Italian journalist might have some insider knowledge about Tanganga’s transfer situation considering the major player is AC Milan. On the other hand, Newcastle is a useful stalking horse for any number of transfer rumors because they’re nouveau riche, and it’s somewhat plausible that they might want to look at a local player like Tanganga as useful defensive depth. Offering a loan with a purchase obligation might tempt Spurs as well, assuming the numbers work out.

So I dunno. This might be something, it might just be an agent trying to stir up interest in the transfer or get Milan to up their bid. Regardless, with Japhet currently in South Korea (he played in today’s friendly) it’s extremely unlikely we’re going to get any sort of clarification or movement on a transfer or loan move until Spurs return to England.