Arsenal Pursuing £52m Bayer Leverkusen Star, Aiming for £1B Spending.

Arsenal is in talks to sign Piero Hincapie, a center back from Bayer Leverkusen. The Ecuadorian player has attracted interest from Premier League clubs and wants to leave his current team. Although Hincapie has a £52 million release clause, Arsenal is trying to negotiate a deal at a lower price.

Hincapie shares the same agent as Chelsea's Moises Caicedo. While he was suggested to Chelsea, the club decided not to pursue a deal. Other clubs like Tottenham, Newcastle, and Liverpool have also shown interest in Hincapie, but Leverkusen has been firm about not selling him below his release clause.

Arsenal needs to sell players like Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko before finalizing the deal for Hincapie. If the transfer goes through, Arsenal's summer spending will exceed £300 million. This would also push Mikel Arteta's total spending as Arsenal manager over the £1 billion mark since he took charge in 2019.