Independiente del Valle’s coaching staff initially found this figure hard to believe. Preseason training has begun, and the senior players are losing to a 17-year-old with extraordinary physical ability. Clown Hincapie has arrived.
“He was breaking the GPS data every day,” Miguel Ángel Ramírez, the club’s former manager who gave Hincapie his professional debut, told Sky Sports with a laugh. “Speed, sprints, acceleration, high-intensity action…”
Hincapie’s natural talent saw him promoted to the first team faster than Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo and Paris Saint-Germain centre-back Willian Pacho, both of whom were older than him in the Ecuadorian club’s academy.
“Piero was more ready,” says Ramirez, who previously served as the club’s academy director. “He was physical, a beast, far better than any professional player in the first team. Technically and tactically he was really impressive.”
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Hincapie is currently bringing the same blend of qualities to Mikel Arteta and the Arsenal staff after his arrival from Bayer Leverkusen as he recovers from a groin injury. “The moment he is physically at his best, he will take it to another level,” Arteta said.
There were signs of that on Tuesday against Slavia Prague.
In just his second start of the season, Hincapie became the first Arsenal player in 12 years to achieve a 100% success rate in eight or more Champions League matches.
It was a typical combative performance. At one point in the first half, Hincapie had to be pulled from a confrontation with Slavia Prague’s Tomas Choly. The 6ft 6in striker probably expected a different reaction to his attempted threat.
Hincapie faces Slavia Prague’s Tomas Choly
Hincapie’s teammate Gabriel had to intervene.
“Really strong, really efficient, really good,” was Arteta’s verdict.
Arsenal are still building up his fitness following his return from injury, but Hincapie’s early appearances have been encouraging, with his strength in duels being a theme.
His overall success rate this season is the highest of any Arsenal player. The sample size is small, but it suggests what he can bring. Hincapie has ranked among Bayer Leverkusen’s top two players in his category in each of the past three seasons.
Arteta described him as a “warrior”, a word echoed by former Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso, who won the double. Arteta sought advice from an old friend before making the move. “He was very complimentary,” he said.
Of course, Arteta’s side are full of high-class defensive options, all of whom have contributed to recent clean sheets.
Arsenal have an excellent defensive record this season.
But those who know Hincapie have no doubt he will earn a spot.
“He’ll prove he can compete with anyone,” Ramirez said with a smile.
“He’ll take his place. You’ll see.”
Left-back or centre-back?
His versatility should come in handy. Although Hincapie considers himself primarily a centre-back these days, he is equally comfortable at left-back and has already shown his adaptability at Arsenal.
He started on the left of the back three in the 1-0 win against Crystal Palace last month, started as a left-sided centre-back in the back four against Brighton and then appeared at left-back against Burnley and Slavia Prague.
Hincapie was used in a variety of roles at Bayer Leverkusen.
It was as a left-back that he first came to Ramirez’s attention at Independiente del Valle. “I know he doesn’t really like that position anymore, but at that age he wasn’t a centre-back,” Ramirez recalled. “He was a left-back who could play both positions.”
His change in emphasis came with his promotion to the first team. “We chose him as a centre-back because his technical condition and tactical understanding allow him to build up,” added Ramirez. “It was easier for us when he was playing there.
“So he started playing as a center back, and he loved that position. Our game model was very aggressive, not only in attack but also in the way we defended.”
Hincapie has made five appearances for Arsenal so far.
“We were in the opposition half most of the time and Pierrot liked those one-on-one situations to show his speed and strength against any striker. I think that’s the main reason why he still loves this position more than left-back.”
Those qualities are certainly part of his appeal to Arsenal. Arteta’s centre-backs are required to maintain a high line and protect man-to-man situations. You also need athleticism and tactical awareness to cover open space and deal with the ball in behind.
Hincapie checks all the boxes. But for now, he may be more likely to displace left-back Riccardo Calafioli than left-back centre-back Gabriel Magalhães, especially given that he could offer Arsenal a different dimension in the left-back position.
He will prove he can compete with anyone. he will take his place
Miguel Ángel Ramírez talks about Piero Hincapie
Hincapie has the composure and passing ability to push inside in a style similar to Calafioli and Miles Lewis-Skelly, but his speed and stamina also allows him to move up and down the wings, grab onto the touchline edge and provide width with overlapping runs.
He primarily plays as a left-back for the Ecuadorian national team. He was also used as a wing-back at Bayer Leverkusen.
“He has the physicality to go with it, but also the quality and understanding,” Ramirez said. “He knows where the spaces are, inside or outside, when to overlap.”
Hincapie was an important player for Xabi Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen
Importantly, Hincapie also has the tactical flexibility to adapt to the demands of each opponent. Against Slavia Prague, he was given a relatively conservative role as left-back. Considering the Czech side’s structure, Arteta said, “I wanted to keep him low on that side.”
But his overlap could soon open up new possibilities for Arsenal, especially in conjunction with right-footer Eberechi Eze, who prefers to drift inside from his left-wing position.
why does he support me
Whether at left-back or centre-back, Hincapie is expected to take on the challenge of earning a starting place in Arteta’s side with complete conviction.
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The 23-year-old is determined and fiercely ambitious. His unwavering self-confidence is an undeniable strength, but as a young player on the rise at Independiente del Valle, it has been a challenge for his coach to contain.
“He was a kid,” Ramirez says, smiling again.
“He rose to the first team very quickly, faster than Caicedo or Pacho. When you are still young, you don’t have the tools to manage yourself, your mind, your mentality. It’s difficult.”
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“At Independiente, the first team is very close to the academy. Piero was only 17 years old, but I remember walking down the hallway as if he were a first team player. He thought he was already Sergio Ramos or Franz Beckenbauer, I don’t know.
“We tried to push him. We gave him first-team minutes but we were very strong and very hard on him about being humble.
“He responded, but always wanted to speed things up. After just a few games he felt he was ready to go overseas and step up to another club.”
His move from Ecuador to Colombian side Talleres just months after making his professional debut with Independiente del Valle caused discord at his boyhood club.
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“I remember a big fight between me and the club because I didn’t want him to leave,” Ramirez says. “It’s not the team’s fault, it’s not my fault, it’s his fault. I didn’t think he was ready.
“He needed more time with us to develop. I was right. In his first days at Talleres he suffered and could not play. But, of course, he was able to grow and adapt with his quality and talent.”
Hincapie earned a move to Bayer Leverkusen in Europe after just one season at Talleres. Now, at the age of 23, the Ecuadorian international, who already has 48 caps, is playing for his fourth club in a fourth different country.
His ambition is further evidenced by the fact that, having already secured a place in the starting lineup at Bayer Leverkusen, he is willing to accept even tougher competition for a place at Arsenal, winning his place and proving his quality once again.
Hincapie is a key player on the Ecuadorian national team.
“I think he was desperate to get to the Premier League,” Ramirez said. “He’s still friends with Caicedo and Pacho, and they challenge each other a lot. So when you see them playing at the biggest clubs in the world, you think, ‘I want to go there.’
So here he is. In comes Piero Hincapie, who as a teenager in Ecuador impressed his coaches with his athleticism and went on to accept the challenge of making his mark in the Premier League with Arsenal. And it might not be long before he steps up his game.
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