Tottenham revealed on Friday morning that Japhet Tanganga's knee injury will now keep him out for the remainder of the 2021/22 season. The statement revealed that the 22-year-old had to have surgery on his injury and he will now have to begin his recovery before his return.
Tanganga had been battling for a spot in Antonio Conte's regular XI, playing in the back three and as a right wing-back. The defender's last Premier League appearance was in the 2-0 defeat to Chelsea in January and he has been absent ever since, alongside Oliver Skipp.
Conte is always asked about injury problems in his squad ahead of games and the defender has been included on that list for almost two months now. However, the Italian has never revealed the full extent or time frame as to when Tanganga would be able to make his return.
READ MORE: Tanganga returns, 5 wonderkids involved - Things spotted in Tottenham training for Man Utd clash
Before the 3-2 defeat to Man United, the 52-year-old gave somewhat of an update: "About Skipp and Tanganga, we are not ready, we have to wait." However Tanganga was then spotted in the changing room during Tottenham's training video ahead of the trip to Old Trafford, which seemed like a good sign.
Any hope of his return has now come crashing down after Spurs delivered the update that he isn't expected to return to training until the pre-season period. Tanganga had made a total of 19 appearances this season and stepped in to help the Italian when he had to deal with various problems, including in the absence of the likes of Eric Dier and Cristian Romero.
Not long before his injury Tanganga had praised his new boss, as many of his teammates have also done and what he enjoys about working with the 52-year-old. "Other players have said it, he'll give you a chance if you show him in training what you can do and if he can count on you," the defender admitted.
"He has given me opportunities to play so far which I'm grateful for so I'm going to keep working hard in training and seize the opportunities that may come my way." This injury has now put a halt to those opportunities he was getting on the pitch and he will have to hope that, once he's recovered, he can come back even stronger.
This season, in his 11 league appearances, Tanganga had made 14 tackles, 30 clearances and won 42 of his duels. He also produced 11 crosses and nine accurate long balls, showing his impact at both ends of the pitch.
The London born defender hadn't earned himself a secure place in Conte's regular XI but he provided the Italian with another defensive option, in various positions. This helped with the issue of squad depth, which wasn't solved in the January transfer window and could be a blow for Spurs in the coming weeks, if any further injuries do arise.
