Tottenham Hotspur have completed the signing of central defender Kevin Danso from Lens.
The Austria international, 26, will move to the Premier League club initially on loan before Spurs have an obligation to make the switch permanent in the summer.
As revealed by The Athletic on Saturday night Danso had looked all set for Wolverhampton Wanderers and even had a medical booked for Sunday before pulling out of the move.
Tottenham’s interest follows an injury crisis that has seen a number of key first-team players sidelined.
In defence alone Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, Radu Dragusin and Destiny Udogie have all missed multiple games.
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Danso made 128 appearances for Lens over four seasons after joining from Augsburg in 2021. He has played 14 games in all competitions this season.
Before making the move to the Ligue 1 club, he previously had loan spells at Southampton and Bundesliga side Fortuna Dusseldorf.
Wolves signed Emmanuel Agbadou from Stade de Reims earlier in January but will now have to switch to other targets as they seek further additions for head coach Vitor Pereira’s three-man defence.
Danso is Tottenham’s third arrival of the winter window.
Goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky joined from Slavia Prague while forward Yang Min-Hyeok, signed in the summer, made his move official before joining Championship side Queens Park Rangers on loan.
‘Postecoglou has been desperate for defensive reinforcements’
Ange Postecoglou has been desperate for defensive reinforcements for a couple of months, due to the long-term absence of Micky Van de Ven and Cristian Romero, and he has finally got his wish one day before the window closes.
At the beginning of the week, all of the focus was on signing a new forward but Thursday night’s game against Elfsborg changed everything. Van de Ven made his first appearance since December 8 but Radu Dragusin went off with a nasty-looking knee injury. Postecoglou described Romero’s recovery from a quad injury as a “slow burner” and he is not close to a return.
Spurs have a huge week ahead, with important cup games against Liverpool and Aston Villa, and Danso’s arrival gives them an extra experienced figure in defence.
It will relieve some of the pressure on 18-year-old Archie Gray to play every game too. Looking further ahead, Danso will help Postecoglou rotate his squad as they tackle the latter stages of the Europa League.
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(Julian Finney/Getty Images)