Japhet Tanganga and Antonio Conte's big decision that could alter Tottenham defender's career

Japhet Tanganga is reaching a crossroads moment in his Tottenham Hotspur career and Antonio Conte will decide what comes next for the young defender.

The 23-year-old academy product has been threatening to become a regular Premier League starter on a number of occasions but either injury or a dip in form has prevented him from taking the next step. Tanganga's biggest problem is one of his strengths, with his versatility ensuring his various Spurs managers have employed him all over the back line, in the centre of the defence and sometimes on either flank as a full-back without any real rhythm or regularity.

Yet Tanganga's most impressive performances have come in the biggest games, not least the opening game of last season when he put in a man of the match display at right-back as Spurs beat champions Manchester City 1-0, with the England U21 defender crucial in the hosts keeping a clean sheet.

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His then boss Nuno Espirito Santo is not a man to single players out but that August day even he said: "All the team did very well but Japhet was huge today. He faced too many one-v-ones today against fantastic players and he dealt fantastic with the situation."

Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville, an England international right-back in his day, went even further with the praise, saying: "He handled Raheem Sterling and Jack Grealish in that channel, with Sanchez and Hojbjerg, brilliantly. I couldn’t have done that on my own 20 years ago – and I was a good full-back, played for Manchester United, played for England, but what that kid did out there today was really special from a one-on-one defending point of view.

"So I’m going to give credit to Tanganga