Arsenal £45m summer transfer 'confirmed' hours before Everton clash

A European club’s sporting director has confirmed that a highly rated star will sign for Arsenal following the 2025/26 campaign as the Gunners prepare for the visit of David Moyes’ Everton on Saturday (14 March).

Mikel Arteta’s side are enjoying the current campaign and could still win all four trophies on offer – the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup.

Ahead of this evening’s clash against Everton at the Emirates, the Gunners sit top of the Premier League, leading second-placed Manchester City by seven points, having played a game more than Pep Guardiola’s side.

Summer signings Noni Madueke, Martin Zubimendi, Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze have all contributed to improving Arteta’s side so far this term, while Cristhian Mosquera and Christian Norgaard have proved to be solid squad players when called upon.

Meanwhile, Piero Hincapie has also impressed since arriving on loan from Bayer Leverkusen last summer, with the 24-year-old Ecuadorian featuring 30 times, producing one goal and one assist.

The defender, who was named Arsenal’s Player of the Month for February, has an option to buy written into his loan deal with the north London club, allowing them to purchase the player permanently for a fee of £45 million this summer.

Piero Hincapie will likely make his Arsenal loan a permanent transfer this summer (Credit:Getty)

The sporting director of the player’s parent club, Bayer Leverkusen, Simon Rolfes, effectively confirmed that the loan would be made permanent when speaking ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Leverkusen in the Champions League round of 16 earlier this week.

Ahead of the 1–1 draw in Germany, Rolfes explained that it was “nice” to welcome Arsenal’s Kai Havertz back to his former club before confirming Hincapie’s summer switch to the Gunners.

He said: “Because of Covid, there was never the environment or the opportunity to say goodbye to him [Havertz], even if we saw each other afterwards. But now I think it’s a very special setting for him to come back to the BayArena, and for Piero too, of course.

“He’s still officially our player and is only on loan at the moment, but it will come to the transfer and I think for Piero it’s just as special too.”

Hincapie formed part of the Bayer Leverkusen side that went unbeaten during the 2023/24 Bundesliga campaign, while also winning the DFB-Pokal and reaching the Europa League final.