Bayer Leverkusen are reportedly currently standing firm on Arsenal target Piero Hincapie’s £52million (€60m) release clause. The Gunners are eager to secure a deal that would see the Ecuadorian international move to north London initially on loan, with a view to making it permanent next summer.
Hincapie has already verbally agreed personal terms with Arsenal for a long-term contract and was visibly emotional on Saturday as he seemed to bid farewell to Leverkusen’s fans following the 2-1 Bundesliga loss to Hoffenheim.
Despite interest from other Premier League and European clubs, his primary choice is the Emirates Stadium and he is actively pushing to join Mikel Arteta’s Premier League title contenders. However, Leverkusen, having already lost several key players this summer including Florian Wirtz, Granit Xhaka and Jonathan Tah, feel no urgency to further weaken Erik ten Hag’s revamped squad, especially this late in the transfer window.
The German club insist any deal must be on their terms, particularly given the 23 year old is contracted to the BayArena until 2029.
Meanwhile, Porto are eagerly awaiting the go-ahead from Arsenal to finalise a deal for Polish defender Jakub Kiwior. The proposed agreement is an initial loan with an obligation to buy, reports the Mirror.
The 25 year old is keen on the move and has already agreed in principle to a five-year contract in Portugal, but Arsenal have yet to formally approve his exit and seal the deal with their Primeira Liga counterparts.
Mirror Football reports that Porto had plans to fly the player to Portugal on Tuesday evening for medical tests, but the private jet arranged to transport Kiwior was cancelled earlier this afternoon as negotiations remain advanced but ongoing.
Porto are hoping for a swift resolution, but Leverkusen have communicated to Arsenal that they must trigger Hincapie’s release clause in order to secure the Ecuadorian, something the Gunners have yet to commit to doing.
Selling players like Fabio Vieira, Reiss Nelson and Oleksandr Zinchenko could give Arsenal additional spending power, but they have already approved a club-record spend exceeding £260million following the signing of Eberechi Eze.
Despite the hold-up, Kiwior is still expected to join Porto as Arteta is understood to respect Kiwior’s stance on a transfer, given he will remain second choice to William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes at the Emirates Stadium.
He returned to the bench on Saturday as the Gunners thrashed Leeds 5-0 in the Premier League, following his omission from Arsenal’s match day squad for their opening day 1-0 triumph at Manchester United.
