diff --git a/dev-packages/browser-integration-tests/suites/tracing/linking-spanOptions/init.js b/dev-packages/browser-integration-tests/suites/tracing/linking-spanOptions/init.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..3ec6adbbdb75
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev-packages/browser-integration-tests/suites/tracing/linking-spanOptions/init.js
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+import * as Sentry from '@sentry/browser';
+
+window.Sentry = Sentry;
+
+Sentry.init({
+  dsn: 'https://public@dsn.ingest.sentry.io/1337',
+  integrations: [],
+  tracesSampleRate: 1,
+});
diff --git a/dev-packages/browser-integration-tests/suites/tracing/linking-spanOptions/subject.js b/dev-packages/browser-integration-tests/suites/tracing/linking-spanOptions/subject.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..797ce3d98fa7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev-packages/browser-integration-tests/suites/tracing/linking-spanOptions/subject.js
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+const rootSpan1 = Sentry.startInactiveSpan({ name: 'rootSpan1' });
+rootSpan1.end();
+
+const rootSpan2 = Sentry.startInactiveSpan({ name: 'rootSpan2' });
+rootSpan2.end();
+
+Sentry.startSpan(
+  {
+    name: 'rootSpan3',
+    links: [
+      { context: rootSpan1.spanContext() },
+      { context: rootSpan2.spanContext(), attributes: { 'sentry.link.type': 'previous_trace' } },
+    ],
+  },
+  async () => {
+    Sentry.startSpan({ name: 'childSpan3.1' }, async childSpan1 => {
+      childSpan1.end();
+    });
+  },
+);
diff --git a/dev-packages/browser-integration-tests/suites/tracing/linking-spanOptions/test.ts b/dev-packages/browser-integration-tests/suites/tracing/linking-spanOptions/test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..c2a2ed02f0e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev-packages/browser-integration-tests/suites/tracing/linking-spanOptions/test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+import { expect } from '@playwright/test';
+import type { TransactionEvent } from '@sentry/core';
+import { sentryTest } from '../../../utils/fixtures';
+import { envelopeRequestParser, shouldSkipTracingTest, waitForTransactionRequest } from '../../../utils/helpers';
+
+sentryTest('should link spans by adding "links" to span options', async ({ getLocalTestUrl, page }) => {
+  if (shouldSkipTracingTest()) {
+    sentryTest.skip();
+  }
+
+  const rootSpan1Promise = waitForTransactionRequest(page, event => event.transaction === 'rootSpan1');
+  const rootSpan2Promise = waitForTransactionRequest(page, event => event.transaction === 'rootSpan2');
+  const rootSpan3Promise = waitForTransactionRequest(page, event => event.transaction === 'rootSpan3');
+
+  const url = await getLocalTestUrl({ testDir: __dirname });
+  await page.goto(url);
+
+  const rootSpan1 = envelopeRequestParser<TransactionEvent>(await rootSpan1Promise);
+  const rootSpan2 = envelopeRequestParser<TransactionEvent>(await rootSpan2Promise);
+  const rootSpan3 = envelopeRequestParser<TransactionEvent>(await rootSpan3Promise);
+
+  const rootSpan1_traceId = rootSpan1.contexts?.trace?.trace_id as string;
+  const rootSpan1_spanId = rootSpan1.contexts?.trace?.span_id as string;
+  const rootSpan2_traceId = rootSpan2.contexts?.trace?.trace_id as string;
+  const rootSpan2_spanId = rootSpan2.contexts?.trace?.span_id as string;
+
+  expect(rootSpan1.transaction).toBe('rootSpan1');
+  expect(rootSpan1.spans).toEqual([]);
+
+  expect(rootSpan3.transaction).toBe('rootSpan3');
+  expect(rootSpan3.spans?.length).toBe(1);
+  expect(rootSpan3.spans?.[0].description).toBe('childSpan3.1');
+
+  expect(rootSpan3.contexts?.trace?.links?.length).toBe(2);
+  expect(rootSpan3.contexts?.trace?.links).toEqual([
+    {
+      sampled: true,
+      span_id: rootSpan1_spanId,
+      trace_id: rootSpan1_traceId,
+    },
+    {
+      attributes: { 'sentry.link.type': 'previous_trace' },
+      sampled: true,
+      span_id: rootSpan2_spanId,
+      trace_id: rootSpan2_traceId,
+    },
+  ]);
+});
diff --git a/packages/core/src/tracing/sentrySpan.ts b/packages/core/src/tracing/sentrySpan.ts
index 3194a45f707f..53f103c5ed52 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/tracing/sentrySpan.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/tracing/sentrySpan.ts
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ export class SentrySpan implements Span {
     this._traceId = spanContext.traceId || generateTraceId();
     this._spanId = spanContext.spanId || generateSpanId();
     this._startTime = spanContext.startTimestamp || timestampInSeconds();
+    this._links = spanContext.links;
 
     this._attributes = {};
     this.setAttributes({
diff --git a/packages/core/test/lib/tracing/trace.test.ts b/packages/core/test/lib/tracing/trace.test.ts
index 00ee444d6f69..e15bf146bee6 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/lib/tracing/trace.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/lib/tracing/trace.test.ts
@@ -1305,6 +1305,44 @@ describe('startInactiveSpan', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it('allows to pass span links in span options', () => {
+    const rawSpan1 = startInactiveSpan({ name: 'pageload_span' });
+
+    // @ts-expect-error _links exists on span
+    expect(rawSpan1?._links).toEqual(undefined);
+
+    const rawSpan2 = startInactiveSpan({
+      name: 'GET users/[id]',
+      links: [
+        {
+          context: rawSpan1.spanContext(),
+          attributes: { 'sentry.link.type': 'previous_trace' },
+        },
+      ],
+    });
+
+    const span1JSON = spanToJSON(rawSpan1);
+    const span2JSON = spanToJSON(rawSpan2);
+    const span2LinkJSON = span2JSON.links?.[0];
+
+    expect(span2LinkJSON?.attributes?.['sentry.link.type']).toBe('previous_trace');
+
+    // @ts-expect-error _links and _traceId exist on SentrySpan
+    expect(rawSpan2?._links?.[0].context.traceId).toEqual(rawSpan1._traceId);
+    // @ts-expect-error _links and _traceId exist on SentrySpan
+    expect(rawSpan2?._links?.[0].context.traceId).toEqual(span1JSON.trace_id);
+    expect(span2LinkJSON?.trace_id).toBe(span1JSON.trace_id);
+
+    // @ts-expect-error _links and _traceId exist on SentrySpan
+    expect(rawSpan2?._links?.[0].context.spanId).toEqual(rawSpan1?._spanId);
+    // @ts-expect-error _links and _traceId exist on SentrySpan
+    expect(rawSpan2?._links?.[0].context.spanId).toEqual(span1JSON.span_id);
+    expect(span2LinkJSON?.span_id).toBe(span1JSON.span_id);
+
+    // sampling decision is inherited
+    expect(span2LinkJSON?.sampled).toBe(Boolean(spanToJSON(rawSpan1).data['sentry.sample_rate']));
+  });
+
   it('allows to force a transaction with forceTransaction=true', async () => {
     const options = getDefaultTestClientOptions({ tracesSampleRate: 1.0 });
     client = new TestClient(options);