Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly set to hijack Wolverhampton Wanderers' proposed move for Lens defender Kevin Danso, who is now on his way to North London.
The Lilywhites are yet to make a single outfield acquisition in the January transfer window and were allegedly rejected by AC Milan's Fikayo Tomori on Friday, despite agreeing a deal with the Rossoneri.
As a result, Spurs risked hitting Monday's deadline with just one new acquisition in the shape of Czech goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, having also been rebuffed by Bayern Munich's Mathys Tel.
However, the Tottenham hierarchy have been searching far and wide for defensive reinforcements amid fears that Radu Dragusin could miss the rest of the season with the knee injury he suffered against Elfsborg in Thursday's 3-0 Europa League victory.
Despite previous talk of an approach for Chelsea man Axel Disasi, journalist Ben Jacobs reports that the capital side are on the brink of hijacking Wolves' move for Danso.
Wolves 'informed' Danso will be joining Tottenham
© Imago
The Old Gold have supposedly been informed by Danso's camp that Spurs will sign the Austria international, who will join the Lilywhites on a five-and-a-half year contract for a €25m (£20.9m) fee.
The centre-back is already said to have given the green light to the transfer, fewer than 24 hours before he was supposed to undergo his medical with Wolves, who had reached a full agreement with Lens.
However, Vitor Pereira's side have supposedly now been told to cancel Danso's proposed medical, and all parties are now in the final stages of negotiations to bring the defender to Tottenham.
The 26-year-old will reinforce a Spurs backline that has been ravaged by injuries to Dragusin, Ben Davies, Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero this season, forcing Ange Postecoglou to deploy 18-year-old Archie Gray in a makeshift centre-half role.
The Lilywhites have lost their last four Premier League games to slip to a humiliating 16th place in the top-flight table, just seven points above Leicester City in the highest of the relegation places.
Who is soon-to-be Tottenham man Danso?
Understand Spurs also seeking a loan, but there could be an obligation to buy. Parties in talks to finalise after Danso agreed to the move. Wolves told to cancel Sunday's medical and are out the race.⚪️ https://t.co/akDyJCnom5
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) February 1, 2025
After Wolves' 2-0 West Midlands derby win over Aston Villa, Pereira's men are just one place and five points worse off than Spurs in the Premier League table, and the Lilywhites are certainly not an attractive prospect at present if Tel and Tomori's rejections are anything to go by.
However, Tottenham's interest in Danso was enough to make the 26-year-old pull out of joining Wolves at the last minute, and the Austria international arrives in North London with plenty of European pedigree.
Once of Southampton, Reading and MK Dons, Danso has been a defensive rock for Lens since joining in a £4.6m deal from Augsburg in 2021, making 128 appearances and chipping in with four goals and six assists.
The 6ft 3in defender was named in the 2022-23 Ligue 1 Team of the Year after playing a key part in Lens' second-placed finish behind Paris Saint-Germain, who only won the title by one point that year.
A 24-cap Austria international, Danso was involved in three of Das Team's games at Euro 2024 as they reached the last 16, and his imminent arrival will finally provide Lilywhites fans with some long-awaited positive transfer news.
Ben Knapton
