Kirsty Hanson: Tottenham's Game-Changer from Aston Villa

Kirsty Hanson’s name was not the headline of the summer. Not when World Cup winners and Champions League regulars were flying into the Women's Super League.

Yet, tucked in among the big announcements, Tottenham quietly did something that could reshape their season. They took last year’s third-highest scorer in the league from a mid-table side and dropped her into an ambitious project in north London.

Kirsty Hanson for an undisclosed fee. From Aston Villa to Spurs. No fuss, no fanfare. Potentially the sharpest move of the window.

From fringe player to Villa talisman

Hanson’s rise has not been instant, and that’s part of what makes this move so intriguing.

At Manchester United, she helped lay the foundations of the club’s professional women’s team, then hit a wall. Game time dried up, rhythm disappeared, confidence drained. By the time Villa took her on loan in 2022, she needed a reset more than a new shirt.

She found far more than that.

Across four years at Villa, she rebuilt herself. One hundred appearances. Twenty-six goals. Two player-of-the-season awards. Those are not the numbers of a squad player; they’re the profile of a leader.

Last season, everything clicked. In a team that finished ninth, Hanson still finished as the WSL’s third-highest scorer with 12 goals in 22 matches. Only Khadija Shaw and Alessia Russo finished ahead of her. That’s elite company.

The numbers behind the headline tell an even sharper story. Hanson scored 43% of Villa’s league goals. Almost half of everything they did in front of goal ran through her. She hit the target with 50% of her shots, the best ratio among the league’s top-five scorers. She wasn’t just chancing her arm; she was picking her moments and punishing teams.

And she wasn’t a poacher waiting in the box for service either. Only two Villa players created more chances than her 16. She had the most touches in the opposition box. She pressed, she tackled, she intercepted, ranking among the best in her position for defensive work.

Villa didn’t just give her minutes. They gave her responsibility, and she carried it.

No wonder walking away hurt.

Why Spurs – and why now?

For Hanson, this was not a move made on a whim. She left a club where she was adored and central, and stepped into a squad where nothing is guaranteed.

“It was obviously a very tough decision to leave Villa,” she said, and it’s easy to see why. She’d been restored there. She’d won there. But Tottenham offered something different: a ceiling she hasn’t hit yet.

Look at Spurs’ trajectory. Fifth last season. A club that has gone from survival mode to genuine European ambition. They start their WSL campaign on 6 September at home to West Ham with a clear target: break into the top three and reach the Women’s Champions League.

That kind of leap needs more than slogans. It needs players who can carry numbers and standards from day one.

Hanson saw the intent. The recruitment drive backs it up. West Ham’s top scorer Shekiera Martinez has come in. France defender Alice Sombath has arrived from Lyon. Victoria Pelova has crossed the divide from Arsenal, bringing creativity and control in midfield.

Those are not depth signings. They’re statements. And then there is the appointment that might matter most to Hanson: Martin Ho.

Reunited with the coach who unlocked her

Ho knows Hanson. Not in theory, but from training pitches and matchdays at Manchester United, where he worked as assistant coach between 2020 and 2023.

When Tottenham handed him the manager’s job, it sent a message about where they wanted to go. When he identified Hanson as a key target, the club backed him.

For the forward, that familiarity matters. “When they appointed Martin as manager, I think that was a big statement because he is one of the best coaches I've worked with,” she said. That’s not a throwaway line. It’s a clue to why she walked away from comfort.

“I know he gets the best out of me with the detail he puts in. I really think that will push me further on in my career.”

This is not a player looking for a platform to coast. She’s asking to be pushed.

Pre-season under Ho has delivered exactly that. “Training's been really tough. It was probably one of the toughest pre-seasons I've done so far. Martin is challenging us, trying to push us to our limits,” Hanson admitted.

That’s the environment she wanted. Not a club that simply admires what she did at Villa, but one that demands more than that version of her.

“I don't just want to be signed because they think I'm good, I want them to improve me.”

A crowded attack – and a player who thrives on the fight

Tottenham’s forward line will be a battleground this season. With Hanson, Martinez and existing attacking talent all vying for starts, nobody walks into the XI on reputation.

Hanson knows it. She welcomes it.

“I'm definitely comfortable [in the WSL] now but I still don't see myself as one of the best. I'm very critical of myself,” she said. That self-assessment is telling. Top-three ambitions demand players who aren’t satisfied with their own numbers, even when those numbers stack up against the league’s elite.

She isn’t arriving at Spurs as a finished article. She doesn’t want to be seen that way either.

“It's going to be tough. I'm not expecting anything. My main aim is just to be better because I've got so many levels to go to. Martin knows that as well.”

The competition doesn’t just threaten her place; it fuels her. She’s stepping into a dressing room loaded with quality and experience, and she’s not just there to learn.

“I knew the level of players that were here. I'm just so excited to learn from them. I'm also here to help others, because that's what I've done at every club.”

That last line matters. Hanson’s influence at Villa wasn’t limited to goals and metrics. She grew as a presence. She has a degree in sports coaching and talks about understanding game moments, knowing when to calm others down, when to manage tempo. She’s not the kid at United anymore.

“Previously when I worked with Martin, I was younger and I wouldn't have been able to cope with that as much. But now I've definitely matured a lot.”

This is a forward who sees the whole picture, not just the next shot.

The edge Spurs are buying

Ask Hanson to describe herself and you don’t get talk of flair or technique first. You get something more raw.

“I might not be the most talented but I've got a lot of fight and hunger in me. I literally run through a brick wall for my team. Hopefully I've showed them that.”

Spurs are not just buying goals. They’re buying a mentality that dragged Villa through difficult spells and refused to accept mid-table anonymity.

Last season, when Villa struggled, Hanson still found ways to impact games. She worked both sides of the ball, she created, she finished. That blend of graft and end product is exactly what Tottenham have lacked at times when chasing the league’s top sides.

Now she steps into a team that wants to turn potential into silverware, and into a league campaign that will ask whether fifth place was a platform or a peak.

Hanson has already answered her part of that question with her choice. She walked away from status to test herself at a higher level, under a coach who demands more, in a squad where nothing is handed out.

Tottenham believe that quiet move, the one that slipped under the radar, can be the one that shifts their season.

If the player who scored nearly half of Villa’s goals last year can hit similar heights in a stronger side, the rest of the WSL will have to pay attention—whether they meant to or not.