Tottenham clinch Kevin Danso deal after stunning late Wolves transfer hijack | OneFootball

Austrian defender set to join from Lens on long-term contract after Premier League rivals gazumped

Tottenham have agreed to sign Kevin Danso after hijacking Wolves’ move for the Lens defender.

As reported by The Athletic, Tottenham have agreed a permanent deal for Danso worth around €25million (£20.8m), with the 26-year-old set to sign a five-and-a-half year contract after completing a medical.

Spurs had been pushing for new outfield signings ahead of the deadline to boost Ange Postecoglou’s heavily depleted squad, having faced criticism for only signing Czech goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky so far this month and welcoming teenage South Korean winger Yang Min-hyeok, who last week joined Championship side QPR on loan until the summer. Striker Dane Scarlett also returned early from a loan spell at second-tier Oxford.

The lack of signings has come despite an ongoing injury crisis that has gripped Tottenham for weeks now and played a huge factor in their wretched Premier League form that has seen them drop to 16th in the table and only seven points above the relegation zone ahead of Sunday’s trip to London rivals Brentford amid huge pressure on manager Postecoglou and increasing fan ire aimed at chairman Daniel Levy.

As well as being in the market for a new forward, Spurs, reported to have been snubbed by Mathys Tel this week despite apparently agreeing a £50m deal with Bayern Munich for the Frenchman, have also been looking at bolstering a defensive unit that has been without first-choice centre-backs Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero for much of the season, with the latter still yet to return to action and Radu Dragusin now also sidelined with a knee problem.

Postecoglou said on Friday that Tottenham were exploring the possibility of signing a new centre-back after Dragusin’s injury, having been heavily linked with AC Milan’s former Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori before striking a deal for Danso on Saturday evening.

It remains to be seen if Spurs will seek a second centre-back signing before the transfer window shuts at 11pm GMT on Monday night, having also been linked with Chelsea’s Axel Disasi, who also has interest from Aston Villa.

A new forward signing appears uncertain after the Tel saga, while Tottenham have also been linked with Southampton attacker Tyler Dibling and Lille’s England midfielder Angel Gomes, though it has been reported that those deals are more likely to happen in the summer.

It is a return to English football for Danso, who previously made 10 appearances during a season-long loan stint at Southampton from Bundesliga side Augsburg during the 2019-20 campaign.

He also spent time at Fortuna Dusseldorf before joining Lens in 2021 and appearing 128 times for the Ligue 1 outfit, including 13 this season, scoring four goals. Danso also has 24 senior international caps for Austria to his name and played three times at Euro 2024 last summer.