2 weeks ago
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€60m release clause
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Tottenham have lost out to Arsenal once again on the transfer market. The two English Premier League clubs were interested in Piero Hincapié and Arsenal have now announced the signing of the Leverkusen defender. Arsenal have reached a deal with Leverkusen to sign Hincapié on loan with an obligation to buy for €52 million plus a 10% sell-on clause. The North London rivals also went head-to-head for Eberechi Eze with the England international opting to join Mikel Arteta’s men. It was a hugely embarrassing episode for Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy with a sizeable section of the Spurs support believing the 63-year-old should have moved earlier for Eze.
Now history has repeated itself with Arsenal having beaten out Spurs for the signature of Bayer Leverkusen star Hincapié. Tottenham made an initial loan to buy offer for Hincapie that was rejected by Leverkusen. Initially, Leverkusen wanted any club to meet Hincapié's exit clause of €60m. But with Hincapié pushing for an exit, Leverkusen were willing to agree to a deal that comes in just below the initial €60m. Indeed, David Ornstein always suggested that Hincapié would prefer a move to Arsenal and is now getting his wish.
"We are so pleased to welcome Piero Hincapie to the club," Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said. “Piero has a real physical presence, with his versatility and tactical flexibility giving us strong added defensive options. He is a big character, with a very good combination of both youth and maturity. He will make our squad stronger and more competitive as we continue into this season.
Arsenal and Tottenham chase Piero Hincapié
Hincapie wanted to leave Leverkusen this summer and said goodbye to the fans following his club's 2-1 defeat to Hoffenheim last Saturday. Although he’s contracted with the Bundesliga club until 2029. Leverkusen wanted to keep Hincapié but the player was pushing hard for a move away.
Tottenham’s initial offer was for a loan bid with an obligation to buy for his €60m release clause next summer. Arsenal came in late with a bid having to wait to offload players first - there have been reports that Porto are set to complete a €20m deal for Jakub Kiwior. Hincapie is predominantly a centre-back but he can also be deployed at left-back, which is a huge appeal to Arsenal and Tottenham. The defender was tearful after Erik ten Hag's men's 2-1 weekend defeat to Hoffenheim in an indication of his desire to leave.
On why Hincapie wants to leave Leverkusen, Lennart Gens, Transfermarkt’s Bundesliga expert,said: “Unlike last year, Leverkusen is no longer a contender for the title, but will once again be competing for places 2 to 6. That was also the reason why Granit Xhaka, for example, was determined to leave, and the same is likely to apply to Hincapie. His development in the Bundesliga is complete and in order to take the next step, he must move to the Premier League. Bayer management recently said that they did not want to let any more regular starters go, and that also applied to Hincapie. However, the signing of Loïc Badé last week may have changed that, even though it was said at the time that the current squad of central defenders would remain unchanged. That was probably more of a tactic to keep the price up though.
