Why Roberto De Zerbi won't let Kevin Danso get lost in Tottenham's centre-back crowd

Roberto De Zerbi has already moved to strengthen Tottenham Hotspur's centre-back ranks this summer, leaving Kevin Danso's role unclear.

Jan Paul van Hecke and Marcos Senesi are not arriving in N17 to simply make up the numbers or sit on the bench: they're here to play.

Tottenham shipped 57 goals in the Premier League last season, and will know that they need to be far more well-drilled at the back if they are to compete at the right end of the table in 2026-27.

Danso started all of Spurs' final six league games in 2025-26, and despite picking up a yellow card in four of them, his performances played a big part in helping his team escape relegation.

The 27-year-old is now on his way back to North London after his Austria team exited the World Cup at the hands of Spain in the round of 32.

However, he will return to a Lilywhites centre-back room now bustling with competition; one in which he's at risk of falling down the pecking order of.

Kevin Danso was among Premier League's best in 2025-26

With all due respect to Danso, if you were to ask the average Premier League fan - and even many non-biased Tottenham supporters - if he was among the best centre-backs in the Premier League, the vast majority would likely say no.

A quality defender, absolutely. But having only joined Spurs on an initial loan deal from Lens last year, he's not quite had enough opportunities to make his case in this regard.

Indeed, Danso only started 17 Premier League games for the Lilywhites in 2025-26, but it's not how many opportunities he received last term, it's what he did with them that counts.

As per FotMob, Danso's 7.24 duels won and 4.77 aerial duels won per 90 minutes ranked him in the top 2.2 percentile of Premier League centre-backs last season.

Meanwhile, his 12.0 defensive contributions and 8.15 clearances per game placed him in the leading 3.3 per cent of his positional rivals respectively.

Danso also averaged 0.54 headed shots on goal and made 1.51 interceptions as well as 1.63 tackles per game last term, all of which were well above average for his position.

Danso's disciplinary record may work in his favour with De Zerbi

If there was one side of Danso's game where he shone for the wrong reasons last season, it was in his ability to pick up yellow cards.

The Austrian picked up eight yellow cards in the Premier League in 2025-26, at an average of 0.48 per game.

However, De Zerbi is the kind of coach who probably won't mind that as much as many others, as he's a passionate boss who demands his players to be tough and combative on the pitch in all phases.

In that respect, whilst Danso picking up zero cautions would've been hugely impressive and commendable in its own right, that perhaps wouldn't have done his chances under De Zerbi much good.

Danso is a warrior, and that's precisely what Spurs' Italian coach wants from his defenders, meaning that despite the new arrivals in central defence, the big Austrian may yet emerge as a trusted Tottenham starter moving forward.