In the midst of all the negative press that swirls around Tottenham Hotspur this season, this positive nugget was almost lost in this Mail Online piece by Matt Barlow, who spends much of his piece undermining Igor Tudor’s interim spell at the struggling side.
“Some players seem to suspect Tudor’s charmless brand of passive aggression is designed to belittle them. These are the very same players he needs to perform if this salvage operation is going to work.”
One player, however, draws praise: Kevin Danso.
“Danso is a positive force in the dressing room. He speaks different languages and links together different groups. He was all about ‘looking in the mirror’ and ‘digging deep’ and ‘bouncing back”.
Barlow highlights Kevin Danso, the Austrian centre-back born to Ghanaian parents, raised partly in England, as a positive force in the Spurs dressing room. Specifically, his multilingual skills help bridge divides among the squad’s diverse players.
From reports and interviews, Danso speaks several languages fluently, including English (from his time in the UK). German (likely from his Austrian roots and upbringing). French (picked up during his time playing in France, e.g., at Lens). A Ghanaian language/dialect (such as Twi, which has helped him connect with players like Mohammed Kudus)
He’s also actively learning Spanish to better communicate with Spanish-speaking teammates like captain Cristian Romero, often by immersing himself in conversations. This ability to connect different linguistic and cultural groups in the squad makes him valuable off the pitch, fostering unity in a multicultural Premier League team.
Born on September 19, 1998, in Voitsberg, Austria, Danso moved to England at age six and came through youth academies at Reading and Milton Keynes Dons before joining FC Augsburg in Germany in 2014. Initially, Kevin joined Spurs on loan from Lens in February 2025 (mid-2024/25 season).
Contributed significantly in the second half of that campaign, appearing in key UEFA Europa League matches, including the Round of 16, quarter-final, and coming on as a substitute in the final, helping secure a victory over Manchester United in Bilbao.
This is not a player to become lost in the drama and recriminations of the fight for survival.
