{"id":665632,"date":"2026-02-24T17:23:48","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T22:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=665632"},"modified":"2026-02-24T17:29:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T22:29:32","slug":"arsenal-target-piero-hincapie-permanent-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2026\/02\/24\/arsenal-target-piero-hincapie-permanent-move\/","title":{"rendered":"Mikel Arteta Targets Permanent Deal for ‘Warrior’ Who’s Going to ‘Raise the Level’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arsenal have enjoyed an impressive 2025\/26 season and are still in the hunt for a historic quadruple. Mikel Arteta\u2019s team have suffered their fair share of injury troubles, but despite disappointing results along the way, Arsenal<\/span><\/a> have always bounced back. According to Graeme Bailey<\/span><\/a> at Teamtalk, Arsenal are happy with the form of season-long loanee Piero Hincapie and intend to trigger a permanent deal in the summer.<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

Arsenal Target Permanent Deal for Piero Hincapie<\/b><\/h2>\n

Arteta Impressed by Hincapie<\/b><\/h3>\n

According to Bailey, Arsenal are prepared to sign Hincapie this summer. The versatile defender has impressed since joining the Gunners on September 1, in a vital move by sporting director Andrea Berta to bolster Arteta\u2019s defensive options. He moved to north London for a loan fee of \u00a35.2 million, with an option fixed for \u00a345 million.<\/p>\n

A source revealed to Teamtalk that, despite no official communication regarding Hincapie\u2019s future, the club are happy with his contribution, with the source declaring: \u201cPiero has settled so well into the squad and the club as a whole. The staff are very happy with him, and he has just been getting better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read More<\/b>: <\/span>Best Arsenal Players to Wear the Number 14 Jersey Ever<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Since recovering from an early groin injury, Hincapie has become a vital part of Arteta\u2019s squad, making 15 starts, including an impressive showing at left-back in the recent 4-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur. His form ensured he was selected ahead of Ricardo Calafiori and Myles Lewis-Skelly.<\/p>\n

Option to Buy and Praise From Mikel Arteta<\/h3>\n

An option to buy worth \u00a345 million looks like a great bit of business by Arsenal, who will seemingly be making Hincapie a permanent Gunner this summer. His form has been vital, covering key players who have been injured.<\/p>\n

A five-year deal is reportedly in place, as part of the original loan deal. With Arsenal in the hunt for four major trophies, this could be a memorable first season for the Ecuadorian, who will be keen to add to the Bundesliga title he won with Leverkusen in the 2023\/24 season.<\/p>\n

Read More<\/strong>: <\/span>Gabriel Jesus Returning: Arsenal\u2019s Tactical Savior Returns<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Earlier this season, Arteta lavished praise on the Ecuadorian: \u201cHe\u2019s a warrior. He\u2019s going to bring such intensity, physicality, and emotion to the team as well. He\u2019s quality on the ball \u2013 he\u2019s a player who is super keen.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can play inside, he can play in wide positions, he\u2019s done it, as you said, in different ways, and now we need to get him up to speed because the moment that physically he\u2019s at his best, he\u2019s going to raise the level.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arsenal have enjoyed an impressive 2025\/26 season and are still in the hunt for a historic quadruple. Mikel Arteta\u2019s team have suffered their fair share of injury troubles, but despite disappointing results along the way, Arsenal have always bounced back. According to Graeme Bailey at Teamtalk, Arsenal are happy with the form of season-long loanee […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4106,"featured_media":665633,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":true,"sfio_embed_code":"<\/smartframe-embed>","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30,8,3,7188],"tags":[32320,4372,9531],"class_list":["post-665632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-arsenal","category-premier-league","category-rumours","tag-arsenal-transfer-rumours","tag-mikel-arteta","tag-piero-hincapie"],"modified_by":"Ricky Carroll, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665632"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":665638,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665632\/revisions\/665638"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}