Piero Hincapie made one last appearance in the Bayer Leverkusen squad on Saturday, but his move to Arsenal is still on with a medical to take place today.
Following all the reports of an agreement between Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen for the transfer of Piero Hincapie this week, many Gunners fans were surprised to see the player named in Leverkusen’s matchday squad on Saturday.
Leverkusen were playing away to Werder Bremen in a Bundesliga match, and Hincapie was named on the bench despite the speculation around his future.
Yet the player wasn’t brought on, and quotes from manager Erik ten Hag certainly didn’t make it sound like the player had any chance of staying.
“Letting good players leave always hurts,” ten Hag said when questioned about Hincapie by Sky Sports. “But we also have other good players and they then need to take on that task.”
Fabrizio Romano subsequently reported that Hincapie had said his goodbyes to the Leverkusen fans at the game, adding that the player was set to join Arsenal within 24 hours.
Football insider Hand of Arsenal reports on Sunday morning that Hincapie will travel to London today to complete his medical.
Hincapie is set to join Arsenal on an initial season-long loan with a buy option. The total deal is worth €52m (£45m) with €6m of that money due upfront, and Leverkusen will have a 10% sell-on clause in Hincapie’s contract.
The 23-year-old is set to sign a five-year contract at Arsenal if and when he completes his permanent transfer in 2026, so the deal will run to 2031.
As for why Arsenal have agreed an “option” to buy rather than an obligation, that will be for accounting purposes.
If Hincapie completes a permanent transfer, the fee has to be accounted for this year. The same is true for a loan with an obligation to buy, which is effectively considered a permanent transfer from a financial perspective.
But with a loan with an option to buy, the transfer doesn’t have to be included in the accounts until the option is activated. Meaning both Arsenal and Leverkusen can effectively delay the €46m payment to next year.
For Arsenal, that eases some financial strain after a big summer of purchases. As for Leverkusen, with the Bundesliga club already making a large number of big-money sales this summer, they’re better off delaying this fee to next year anyway.