Despite joining Arsenal on deadline day, Piero Hincapie has still logged more minutes for Bayer Leverkusen this season than for his new club.
The Ecuadorian played twice for Leverkusen in August – 65 minutes in the DFB Cup and a full 90 in the Bundesliga opener – before his move to north London was finalised.
After waiting through an international break, he made a lively stoppage-time debut in Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Atletico Madrid Athletic Club only to suffer a groin problem linked to earlier summer surgery. That setback kept him out for five games and another Interlull before returning from the bench in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.
It’s been a stop-start start for the 23-year-old, but with a €46 million permanent deal from Leverkusen set to be completed next summer, he can at least look forward to a more settled future.
In the meantime, Arsenal fans are left wondering exactly what the club have committed to. According to Mikel Arteta, who has seen the defender up close in training, there’s no reason for concern.
“He’s a warrior; he’s going to bring such intensity, physicality, and emotion to the team as well,” said the Spaniard on Tuesday.
“He’s quality on the ball; he’s a player who is super keen. He can play inside, he can play in wide positions, he’s done it in different ways, and now we need to get him up to speed because the moment that physically he’s at his best, he’s going to raise the level.”
Like Hincapie, goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga has also had to bide his time. The Spain international always knew dislodging David Raya would be a challenge and has so far been limited to a single appearance – in the last round of the Carabao Cup against Port Vale.
He could feature again when Brighton visit N5 tomorrow, but there remains curiosity about how Arteta convinced him to join despite limited game time on offer. Was he told he’d be second choice?
“I never do that, but I don’t do that with any player. I think in the end, they have to earn it.
“David [Raya] has been incredibly good for us in the last few years and Kepa knew that when he came in, but he’s ready to compete.
“If I have to highlight behaviours in that dressing room and culture, probably I would mention him as number one, because he’s come into a different environment after winning almost everything in football having been in the national team [Spain, Chelsea, Real Madrid] – big, big clubs.
“And he comes here and every single day he’s behaving like tomorrow’s training session is the most important one in his life.
“He will have his chances to play, he’s in a really good place, and if he plays tomorrow, I’m sure he will be really, really good.”
Arteta also praised Kepa’s influence behind the scenes, crediting him with pushing Raya and improving the goalkeeper unit.
“That connection and the environment that you create between the goalkeepers and the coaches is unique.
“They are unique – to be a goalkeeper you have to be unique, to be in that environment, you have to be unique.
“They are a lot of times by themselves, they have to do a lot of individual practices, and I think Kepa has raised the level, he has created a truly great environment for everybody to shine and I think that’s down to him.”
