Mikel Arteta, Jurrien Timber, and Noni Madueke (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has heaped praise onto new signing Piero Hincapie as he explained why the Gunners brought him in this summer.
The Ecuador international impressed at former club Bayer Leverkusen, and he’s now the latest name in through the door at the Emirates Stadium.
Hincapie looks like a fine addition to add even more quality strength in depth to this Arsenal squad, as he can fill in at centre-back or left-back.
Arteta addressed that versatility in his press conference today, as he explained why Arsenal signed the 23-year-old, whilst adding that he’s “ready to go” in terms of making his debut for the club…
? Mikel Arteta says new signing Piero Hincapie is “ready to go” and has explained why he chose to sign him…? pic.twitter.com/SveZ1CZW1V
— CaughtOffside (@caughtoffside) September 12, 2025
“It’s a player that we monitored for years and he became available,” Arteta said when asked about Hincapie earlier today.
The Spanish tactician went on to praise Hincapie’s versatility, and insisted he’d be an upgrade on what they already had in defence.
Will Piero Hincapie play regularly for Arsenal?
While few who’ve seen him play would doubt his quality, it’s perhaps hard to see how Hincapie will fit in to Arteta’s side on a regular basis.
Arsenal already have William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes as their two first choice centre-backs, and neither of them are likely to lose their places any time soon.
In reserve, AFC can also call upon the highly-rated young centre-back Cristhian Mosquera, who also joined the north Londoners this summer.
At left-back, Arsenal have Riccardo Calafiori and Myles Lewis-Skelly, so those two positions Hincapie can play are already very well covered.
It will be interesting to see how the talented young South American can establish himself at Arsenal, but it clearly won’t be easy due to there being so much competition.
At the same time, though, Arsenal already have injuries, including to Saliba in defence, so that might mean there’ll be a decent number of opportunities for Hincapie throughout the campaign.
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