Arsenal are working on a deal to sign Piero Hincapie from Bayer Leverkusen — if they manage to move players out before the summer transfer window shuts.
Hincapie is under contract at Leverkusen until June 2029, but wants to leave and has informed the Bundesliga club of his wish.
They would prefer to keep the 23-year-old unless a €60million release clause in his terms is activated, although efforts are being made to lower that fee to a more realistic market value.
Hincapie’s preference is to join Arsenal and the Premier League side are ready to push for him, should departures materialise. The defender appeared tearful on the pitch after this side’s 2-1 defeat to Hoffenheim on Saturday.
Jakub Kiwior is being pursued by FC Porto — with Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira and Reiss Nelson among the other squad members who could go.
Hincapie normally operate as a left centre-back but can also be deployed at left-back — and the Ecuador defender has featured prominently on Arsenal’s recruitment lists for some time.
He joined Leverkusen from Argentinian side CA Talleres in the summer of 2021 and has established himself as one of Europe’s most promising defenders.
During his four seasons in Germany, Hincapie has made 166 appearances for Leverkusen in addition to making 46 appearances for the Ecuador national team.
The defender has appeared in Leverkusen’s first two games of the 2025/26 season.
Leverkusen have already seen several members of the side that have brought them their recent success depart this summer. Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, Granit Xhaka, and Jonathan Tah have all left the club, as has former head coach Xabi Alonso.
A cornerstone of Leverkusen’s league-winning side
Analysis by The Athletic’s Seb Stafford-Bloor
Hincapie has developed at pace in Leverkusen, having impressed at the 2021 Copa America.
In fact, Hincapie was so prominent for Ecuador at that tournament that he made Simon Rolfes, B04’s managing director for sport, accelerate his plans to sign him, knowing that he would quickly become out of reach for all but the biggest clubs in Europe.
A versatile, technical and aggressive left-sided defender, who can play on the outside of a back-three, or even as a wing-back, Hincapie was one of the cornerstones of the 2023-24 team that went unbeaten in the Bundesliga in 2023-24, also winning the DFB-Pokal and reaching the final of the Europa League.
(Photo: Lars Baron/Getty Images)
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