Japhet Tanganga's first choice if he leaves Tottenham Hotspur this summer is a move to AC Milan, football.london understands.
The 23-year-old Spurs academy product has played 43 times for the club but has seen recent seasons fragmented by injuries at unfortunate moments just as he was getting a run of games. Tanganga has been on the bench for Tottenham's last two matches but has found himself further down the pecking order due to the arrival of Clement Lenglet on loan from Barcelona this summer.
AC Milan and Nottingham Forest are among the clubs who have been looking to take Tanganga off Tottenham's hands and football.london understands that the former England U21 defender's number one choice is the Serie A giants.
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Advanced talks have been held between Spurs and Milan over a move for Tanganga, but the stumbling block is understood to have been that the Italian side are willing to include an option to sign the centre-back but Tottenham want an obligation for the Serie A side to purchase him for €25million (£21million).
One English defender who has enjoyed success in Milan is England international Fikayo Tomori, who this month signed a new five-year deal with the Italian side after joining from Chelsea in January for 24m, and Tanganga may well feel he can follow in his footsteps.
The question now in the remaining days of the transfer window is which of the two clubs relents and if Tanganga does move then Tottenham need to sign a new centre-back to replace him as per Antonio Conte's very clear and public instructions.
"This squad is this and if someone goes away then another has to come. This has to be very clear for everybody. Otherwise we stay with this squad and we continue our path with these players, this squad," the Spurs head coach told football.london on Saturday after the 1-0 win against Wolves.
"But if someone has to go away, along another must come. This is very clear for me, for the club, but we are totally agreed on this aspect."
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