'Very happy' - Mikel Arteta hints at Arsenal transfer plans for 'dominant' £45m star

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta (Picture: YouTube)

Mikel Arteta heaped praise on the ‘dominant’ Piero Hincapie and strongly indicated that Arsenal will make his move permanent in the summer transfer window.

Hincapie arrived from Bayer Leverkusen on a loan in the summer, and has proved a versatile option in the Gunners’ defence at either left-back or left centre-back.

A groin injury saw the 24-year-old get off to a slow start in north London, but Hincapie has missed just one Premier League match since making his first league start against Tottenham in late November.

Hincapie’s performances has seen both Riccardo Calafiori and Myles Lewis-Skelly starved of minutes, but Arteta is confident that the Ecuadorian is only going to keep getting better.

Asked about his impressive form recently, the Arsenal boss said of Hincapie: ‘I fully agree. Again, a bit more time with the team.

‘A sequence of games where, probably, physically, he’s in a much better place. He’s been extremely dominant in all the defensive actions.

‘He understands what we want in the attacking part as well much better, all the set-pieces, all the aspects that are relative to the game model that we have.

Piero Hincapie has excelled in recent weeks (Picture: Getty)

‘He’s very much liked amongst the players, you can see that the way they interact and react with him. I’m very pleased that he’s showing that up.’

The Gunners have the option to make Hincapie’s deal permanent in the summer for a £45million fee, and Arteta suggested that the club are keen to do so.

‘I would say so,’ he replied when asked if Hincapie’s deal would be made permanent.

Hincapie joined on loan from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer (Picture: Getty)

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‘Let’s go through the season. We have already discussed the possible outcomes that we have after that period. But so far we are very, very happy with him.’

For now, the focus for Arsenal is on the league as they prepare to host Chelsea at the Emirates on Sunday.

The Gunners have already played Chelsea three times this season and are yet to lose, but Arteta insisted his side’s impressive recent record won’t make them complacent as they look to keep a distance between themselves and the chasing pack.

‘That doesn’t change the preparation,’ he said. ‘We know the importance of the game, and we know the team we’re going to have in front of us.

‘We just have to prepare in the best way to have the right to win it. As I always say, there’s nothing else you can do. What we did two weeks or two years ago is irrelevant.

‘Every game and context is different, because the players might be different and all of the teams can be in a different state. But the state is different, and we’re prepared.’

On the injury front, there was good news for Arsenal, with Kai Havertz back in training and Max Dowman set to get minutes with the Under-21 side. A late call will be made on defender Ben White, who missed last weekend’s north London derby.

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