South American football expert admits he has a doubt about Arsenal’s move for Piero Hincapie

Add as preferred source on Google

South American football expert Tim Vickery has shared his thoughts on Arsenal’s prospective move for Piero Hincapie.

Arsenal have been busy on the transfer front this summer and another signing could be forthcoming in Bayer Leverkusen defender Piero Hincapie.

Hincapie has agreed personal terms with Arsenal and talks are ongoing between the two clubs over the structure of a deal, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Vickery believes Arsenal are set to get themselves a “terrific” defender, but he admitted he had one doubt in particular about the deal.

Tim Vickery suggests Arsenal don’t really need Piero Hincapie

Vickery began by outlining Hincapie’s style of play and what he could bring to Arsenal.

“Hincapie is a left-footed defender, he’s a centre-back who can also play at left back as well,” Vickery told Sky Sports.

“He’s not a flyer up the wing kind of left back. He likes to bring the ball out of the defence.

“I remember the first time I saw him in Ecuador, they threw him in as a teenager, and I had had my doubts.

“I thought too spindly, maybe, and he’s got mistakes in him. It’s been great to be proved wrong, because he’s grown and grown and grown and really is a terrific defender.”

However, Vickery’s doubt related to whether Arsenal need a player like Hincapie, considering they already have cover in those positions.

“My little doubt here is, why would Arsenal want to spend so much for a player in this position when they have both Gabriel Magalhaes and Calafiori,” he continued.

“So you’ve got cover there in both the positions that Hincapie offers.

“So it’s a little bit of a surprise to me why it’s Arsenal, and based on what we’ve seen so far in the season, I think you would have thought that this is a player that Liverpool could really do with.”

READ MORE: What Bayer Leverkusen have now made clear to Arsenal about Piero Hincapie as Gunners pursue deal

Why Arsenal are moving for Piero Hincapie

Although Arsenal do have cover at centre-back and left-back as things stand, they are set to lose a fairly important fringe player in that position, namely Jakub Kiwior.

Kiwior is set to join Porto on an initial loan that includes an obligation for the Portuguese giants to buy for around £21million.

In addition, Calafiori’s injury record has been patchy at best since his move to Arsenal, so it would be a bad idea to lose Kiwior without bringing in a replacement.