Arsenal target pushing to join Gunners this summer, London giants ready to offer loan with obligation deal to sign him: Reports

Bayer Leverkusen defender Piero Hincapie is reportedly pushing to join Arsenal this summer. The Ecuadorian star wants to leave the Bundesliga club and has rejected advances from all other clubs.

According to a report by Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal want to sign Hincapie on loan with an obligation to buy next summer. The Gunners are unwilling to activate the €60 million release clause and want to negotiate a lower fee as well.

Bayer Leverkusen are not interested in lowering their asking price and see the €60 million release clause as the ideal price for the defender. They are willing to let the 23-year-old leave, but want a permanent exit.

Hincapie was in tears after Bayer Leverkusen's 2-1 loss to Hoffenheim last week, hinting at an exit from the German club. Reports followed that Tottenham were interested in signing the defender, but were pushed to drop their interest after the defender showed a preference to join Arsenal.

The Athletic have reported that Mikel Arteta's side see Hincapie as a player who can operate as a center-back and also play as a left-back when needed. The Ecuadorian has shown the qualities at Leverkusen, playing 47 of his 166 games as a full-back.

However, the report also added that the Gunners will wait until the offload players before making a move for Hincapie. They are looking to sell Jakub Kiwior, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira, and Reiss Nelson to make space in the squad and the wage bill.

Bayer Leverkusen yet to receive offer for Arsenal target

Bayer Leverkusen's managing director of sport, Simon Rolfes, spoke to Sport.de this week, revealing that the club are yet to get an offer for Piero Hincapie. He added that the Bundesliga side want to keep the Arsenal target this summer and said:

"We still haven’t received an official offer from any club, so he’s our player. That’s the status quo. Leverkusen naturally want to keep hold of Piero. He knows that we value him highly and is aware that we would like to see him continue with us."

However, he was not ruling out a move, saying that the window is open until Monday and anything could happen. He added:

"The transfer window is still open until Monday evening so the probability is high that something will still happen."

Arsenal have had a busy summer, signing Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Viktor Gyokeres, Kepa Arrizabalaga, and Cristhian Mosquera for the first team.