Granit Xhaka put in a good word about Arsenal with Piero Hincapie, ultimately helping to convince the player to make the move to north London.
Piero Hincapie completed his initial loan move to Arsenal on transfer deadline day this week, with the Bayer Leverkusen player having an option to buy in his contract.
Hincapie was far from the only Leverkusen player to make the switch to the Premier League this summer, and Granit Xhaka was another to make a similar move – joining Sunderland.
With Xhaka previously playing for Arsenal, Hincapie admits he spoke to the midfielder about his time with the Gunners.
“We’d speak a lot but not about [Arsenal],” Hincapie began. “However, I asked him about Arsenal at one point, and I queried him about how things were here.
“He spoke wonders about the club and how he felt during his spell here. I loved the conversation that we had at that point, and it wasn’t that recent!
“He did send me a message recently, though. He always spoke well of the club.”
As mentioned, Hincapie joined Arsenal on an initial loan with an option to buy. The Gunners have paid an initial €6m loan fee, and they’ll pay another €46m to make the transfer permanent next summer.
Though the loan transfer technically only includes an option to buy, rather than an obligation, it’s very much expected to go ahead. To ensure it does, the clubs agreed to give both parties the option to activate his purchase clause.
Even if Arsenal decide not to activate Hincapie’s clause, Leverkusen could do so and he’d still have to make the move. So it’s hard to see any realistic scenario where it doesn’t happen.
The only reason the clubs didn’t include an obligation to buy was that they both wanted to account for the transfer fee in 2026. An obligation makes the permanent transfer a guarantee and means it has to be accounted for immediately.
Leverkusen will also have a 10% sell-on clause, and Hincapie will sign a contract to 2031 when his move turns permanent. The centre-back will wear the number five shirt.