Sheffield United hailed for "statement" Japhet Tanganga, Millwall deal | OneFootball

Sheffield United have been praised for their decision to move to the former Spurs defender Japhet Tanganga, despite their dismal start to the season.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Sheffield United have had a dismal start to the 2025-26 Championship season, with three straight defeats leaving them bottom of the table, but they've been praised over their decision to make a move for Millwall defender Japhet Tanganga.

The Blades have had a busy summer since failing to get through the play-off final at the end of 2024-25, with the replacement of Chris Wilder with Ruben Selles, but there have been teething problems at Bramall Lane since the start of the new season.

They've lost all three of their opening League matches of the season, and were also eliminated from the EFL Cup at the first hurdle by Birmingham City.

"A statement signing" - Blades praised over pursuing Japhet Tanganga deal

We spoke to FLW's Sheffield United fan pundit Jimmy, and he is enthused about the signing, even if he isn't happy about the way in which his team have started the new season: "Tanganga's certainly a good signing for us. I think he's the closest you can get to a statement signing for a defender in the Championship, and it'll likely be up to £10m, so I assume that's with add-ons that'll include promotion and other caveats as well, and it certainly doesn't look like we're going to meet any of those at the moment!"

Jimmy is aware that moving from Chris Wilder to Ruben Selles is a big change, and he is very clear that Tanganga is the sort of experienced head that the Blades need at the back: "We just need some solid defenders to help us out, because this Ruben Selles experiment is making us look quite vulnerable to the moment. So as we transition into our new way of being, then we need players of high quality to help us transition over to that. It's a hard watch at the moment, but bringing Tanganga in can only help, and I think he'll be a strong addition for us."

Japhet Tanganga can bring some Premier League quality to the Blades' defence

There's little question that Sheffield United still need reinforcements ahead of the closure of the transfer window, and particularly in defence. They've conceded eight goals in their first four matches of the season, with half of that number coming on the opening weekend at home to Bristol City.

Tanganga isn't going to come cheap to Sheffield United, but that's a cost of their failure to secure Premier League football at the end of last season. Tanganga had a release clause of £1.2 million in his contract, but this only applied to Premier League clubs, meaning that anybody else who wanted to sign him would have to pay a significant premium to do so.

But he's an extremely accomplished defender who was hugely praised for his performances for Millwall last season, and even at the full price of £10 million he might turn out to be a bargain should he bring a little more order to the Sheffield United back line.

With 50 Premier League appearances under his belt for Spurs, Tanganga is the sort of investment who could benefit them in the top flight, should they get back there. But his first job will be to steady that central defence and help get Sheffield United back into a position in which they can challenge to get back there.