Arsenal agree loan deal for Bayer Leverkusen star Piero Hincapie - with Gunners set to pay German club £42m next summer to sign defender permanently

Arsenal have agreed a loan deal for Bayer Leverkusen defender Piero Hincapie.

The club will pay Leverkusen a £42million fee next summer to sign him permanently, and a 10 per cent sell-on clause will be inserted into the switch.

Hincapie's medical is expected to take place this weekend. Personal terms are said to already be in place, and the 23-year-old will put pen to paper on a five-year contract. 

Daily Mail Sport reported that Arsenal's initial approach was worth around £45m but talks with the Bundesliga giants developed in recent hours, allowing them to postpone the payment through a loan and obligation to buy at the end of the season.

The 23-year-old has a release clause worth just over £50m in his contract but Mikel Arteta has landed his target despite an agreement on a lower final figure. 

The Ecuador international was on Arsenal's radar for some months and expressed a desire to leave Leverkusen after attracting growing interest from the Premier League.

Tottenham, Newcastle and Liverpool had also looked at Hincapie, though Leverkusen said he was not for sale for anything less than his release clause, having already lost crucial first-team players Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong this summer.

Hincapie had signed a contract extension with Leverkusen until 2029 last summer.

He played more than an hour in Leverkusen's first game of the season, a 4-0 victory over Sonnenhof Grossaspach in the DFB-Pokal, and appeared emotional on the pitch after the 2-1 home defeat by Hoffenheim on Saturday evening.

The defender missed just two Bundesliga fixtures for Leverkusen last campaign, and started nine of their 10 matches in the Champions League.

He made 165 appearances in total after joining from Argentine side Talleres in 2021.

It is understood that any deal for Hincapie will determine whether Porto can proceed to sign Arsenal defender Jakub Kiwior before deadline day.

The 25-year-old Poland international joined Arsenal from Spezia in January 2023 for £20m but has never fully established himself under Arteta, making 68 appearances largely as cover for William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes.

With Arsenal sufficiently stocked in central defence, Kiwior has emerged as one of several players the club are prepared to move on.

Arsenal have been incredibly busy this summer, signing Viktor Gyokeres, Martin Zubimendi, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke among others as they look to bring an end to their lengthy wait for the Premier League title.

Should Hincapie arrive, it would take Arsenal's outlay past £300m for the window and push Arteta's total spending as Gunners boss beyond the £1bn mark since 2019.