: Arsenal are closing in on Piero Hincapié deal, it’s ❤️ Agreement done with Bayer Leverkusen on formula as will be loan with obligation to buy as Arsenal wanted. Negotiations at final stages on fee package close to release clause for €60m to be paid in several years. Hincapié only wants Arsenal, personal terms agreed… final steps are needed then the deal can get done. Jakub Kiwior will join Porto as soon as deal done.

After Hincapie: £78m star can become Arsenal’s best late signing since Ozil

It’s been a frankly unbelievable summer for Arsenal so far this year.

On top of winning their opening games of the Premier League season, the Gunners have gone big in the market in a way fans have not seen them do before.

Mikel Arteta has been given seven first-team quality players so far, and it now looks likely that he’ll get an eighth in Piero Hincapie.

Piero Hincapie in action for Bayer Leverkusen

Yet, the club could make it the greatest transfer window in the club’s history if they go back in for someone they’ve already been linked with, someone who could end up being their best deadline day deal since Mesut Özil.

Why the signing of Piero Hincapie is so exciting

It wouldn’t be a summer transfer window for Arsenal if Arteta didn’t get his customary left-back signing, and based on stories from the last few days, it does seem like Hincapie will eventually make it to the Emirates this week.

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However, the big difference between the Bayer Leverkusen star and some of the other defensive signings made by the manager in recent years is that he’s far more of an overlapping full-back.

Instead of moving into the middle of the park or into a back three when in possession, the Ecuadorian is likely going to be tasked with bombing up and down the byline and swinging crosses into the penalty area, or just ahead of it for his teammates to get onto.

On top of adding more explosiveness and dynamism to a left-hand side that has become rather stale, the 23-year-old phenom, whom analyst Ben Mattinson has described as “a left-sided Ben White”, will also help get more out of some of the other summer signings.

For example, with him in the starting lineup, Eberechi Eze will be able to start on the left and then drift into the centre of the pitch in games without making attacks too narrow.

Moreover, his ability to pull opposition defenders wide and then deliver a dangerous cross into the penalty area should work incredibly well with the poacher tendencies of Viktor Gyokeres.

In short, Hincapie appears to be an excellent signing for Arsenal, although the club could really end the window with a bang and go back in for a prior target who’d be their best deadline-day deal since Ozil.

The star who’d be Arsenal’s best deadline deal since Ozil

Arsenal have been linked with an unbelievable number of supremely talented players over the last few months who could probably fit this description.

Real Madrid’s Rodrygo looks on

However, in this instance, Rodrygo is the £78m star in question who, were he to join the club in the dying embers of the window, would be the Gunners’ best deadline deal since Ozil.

Now, it should be said that the club has made several quality last-minute additions since the German made his incredible £42m switch in 2013.

Still, even though David Luiz, Kieran Tierney, Danny Welbeck, and Takehiro Tomiyasu all made positive contributions in some manner, the impact of Rodrygo would be magnitudes more significant.

After all, even though the former Santos gem isn’t getting the game time his talent warrants at the moment, he’s been a brilliant player for Real Madrid over the last few years.



For example, across the 23/24 and 24/25 campaigns, the “world-class superstar,” as dubbed by Luka Modrić, was able to rack up a sensational tally of 31 goals and 20 assists in just 105 appearances, totalling 7159 minutes.

In other words, the 24-year-old game-changer was averaging a goal involvement every 2.05 games, or every 140.37 minutes in that period, which is made all the more impressive by the fact he was playing everywhere but his preferred position of left-wing.

Rodrygo’s recent record

Season

23/24

24/25

Appearances

51

54

Minutes

3707′

3452′

Goals

17

14

Assists

9

11

Goal Involvements per Match

0.50

0.46

Minutes per Goal Involvement

142.57′

138.08′

All Stats via Transfermarkt

Moreover, after three years of getting close but winning nothing, the North Londoners are in need of more big-game players, and the Osasco-born ace certainly fits into the category.

For example, in his 64 Champions League appearances, totalling 3883 minutes, he has scored 25 goals and provided 14 assists, which comes out as a staggering average of a goal involvement every 1.64 games, or every 99.56 minutes.

Furthermore, of those 25 goals, eight have been match-winning strikes, and another eight have come in the knockout rounds.

Finally, while his preferred position is off the left, the Brazilian dynamo is more than capable of playing off the right or even down the middle, so he’d be able to interchange with his attacking teammates with ease and make things even harder for opposition defenders.



Ultimately, while it seems unlikely at this point in time, Arsenal should do all they can to sign Rodrygo before the window slams shut, and if they do get him at the last minute, he’d be their best deadline day deal since Ozil.