This morning, on Sunday, the 2nd of February, Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed the signing of central defender Kevin Danso from Ligue 1 side RC Lens, subject to international clearance and a work permit.
Spurs announce the signing of Kevin Danso from RC Lens
On the official club website, Spurs have said: "We are delighted to announce the signing of Kevin Danso on loan from Ligue 1 side RC Lens, subject to international clearance and work permit.
The Austria international defender will join the Club on loan until the end of the season, with an obligation to make the deal permanent in the summer. He will wear the number four shirt.
Born in Voitsberg, Austria, Kevin moved to England at the age of six and began his early career with Reading and MK Dons before heading to Germany to join FC Augsburg in January, 2014, to continue his development.
After progressing through FC Augsburg’s youth system, he made his first team debut in March, 2017, becoming the youngest ever player to feature for the club in a league fixture. He would go on to make 44 senior appearances in all competitions for the Bundesliga outfit, scoring three times.
In August, 2019, he joined Southampton on a season-long loan, making 10 appearances for the Saints in all competitions across the 2019/20 campaign.
Kevin returned to FC Augsburg following the conclusion of his spell on the south coast and headed out on loan to Fortuna Dusseldorf ahead of the following season. He made 33 appearances for the German side, scoring twice.
A commanding centre-back, he joined RC Lens in August, 2021, and an impressive second season saw him named in the Ligue 1 team of the year after helping the French side to a second place finish, which saw them claim a spot in the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League group stage.
During his time with RC Lens, Kevin made 128 appearances for the club in all competitions, finding the net on four occasions.
On the international stage, he has featured for Austria across numerous age categories and earned his senior debut in September, 2017. He has 24 caps for his country to date and represented Austria at Euro 2024."
The signing of Danso will initially be on loan until the end of the season, with an obligation to make the deal permanent for around 25 million Euros in the summer. Seems like fairly sensible business from a Spurs point of view.
No doubt the game against Brentford will be too early for him to make his debut, but he could be in contention to make his debut against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi final second leg on Thursday evening, should everything be cleared in time. That said, Spurs will be hoping they can count on Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero for that one.
Nevertheless, ideally this means that the club can manage the fitness of van de Ven and Romero better than they have in the past - although Dragusin is set to be out for a while. Still, Davies and Danso as depth for those is so much better than what the scenario looked like a few weeks ago.
Ange said that Romero is a "slow healer" recently, and despite the magnitude of Thursday's game, he may be conscious of rushing him back - so we could see a partnership of van de Ven and Danso for that game, should he be cleared to play.
Something to get excited about, finally. Hopefully not the last signing to report on this window.