After spectacularly stealing Eberechi Eze from under Tottenham’s noses, Arsenal are now trying to poach another one of their North London rivals’ top targets, just hours after the Lilywhites had launched an offer for the player.
Until the start of last week, it seemed as if Eze was bound for Tottenham, but the Gunners entered the race for Eze in the final moment and hijacked the deal, which left Daniel Levy and the Tottenham hierarchy embarrassed.
It turns out that Arsenal are now set to repeat the trick by stealing another player from Tottenham’s grasp.
It was reported this morning that Spurs made a loan offer for Piero Hincapie, with an obligation to buy for £52m after the centre-back expressed a desire to leave Bayer Leverkusen, but Mikel Arta’s men have now allegedly entered the race for the 23-year-old.
Piero Hincapie is prioritising Arsenal move over Tottenham
The Athletic’s David Ornstein has now revealed that Arsenal are working on a deal to sign Hincapie, who has allegedly been on the club’s radar for a long time.
The journalist says that the Ecuador international’s top preference is to move to the Emirates Stadium this summer.
He adds that Leverkusen are unwilling to let the 23-year-old go unless his €60m (£52m) release clause is activated, but the Gunners are making an attempt to lower the price to what they see as a more realistic market value.
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However, Ornstein makes it clear that Arsenal’s move for Hincapie will be very much dependent on player sales, with Mikel Arteta’s men needing to get some players out of the door to fund a move for the Leverkusen star.
The club are hoping to cash in on Jakub Kiwior, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira and Reiss Nelson so that they can push ahead with a move for Hincapie.