Arsenal have drawn Bayer Leverkusen in the last-16 of the Champions League, but can loanee Piero Hincapie face off against his parent club?
Arsenal received a mostly favourable Champions League draw to the final on Friday, with the Gunners guaranteeing being kept apart from the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Bayern until the final.
But that final is still a long way off, and Arsenal first need to overcome Bayer Leverkusen in the round-of-16.
The Gunners signed Piero Hincapie on loan from Leverkusen last summer, raising fan concerns that the player might be ineligible to face his parent club. But that’s not the case, and Hincapie will be allowed to feature in the last-16 tie next month.
Though the Premier League has strict rules about players not being allowed to face their parent clubs, UEFA have gone in the opposite direction.
UEFA’s rules stress that they “strictly forbid any club to exert, or attempt to exert, any influence whatsoever over the players that another club may (or may not) field in a match”.
We’ve seen this play out a number of times in the recent past, including Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson scoring against Chelsea for loan club Bayern Munich this season, and Randal Kolo Muani scoring for Spurs against parent club PSG.
Hincapie will be fully eligible to face Leverkusen, which is great news considering his recent run in Mikel Arteta’s team.
Though it will be an emotional match for the Ecuador international, the purchase clause in his contract is effectively an obligation for Arsenal to buy him at the end of the season, so he shouldn’t have any reason to hold back. His continuing association with Leverkusen is really just a technicality.