Tottenham won’t let a failed move for Piero Hincapié last summer get in the way of them making another attempt for the defender come the end of the season.
Spurs are thought to be keen on adding to the heart of their backline and have identified the 21-year-old, who featured at the Qatar World Cup for Ecuador, as an ideal target in that regard.
“Tottenham would be looking at a summer deal for Piero Hincapié,” Christian Falk exclusively revealed in his latest Substack column for CaughtOffside.
“They did knock on Bayer Leverkusen’s door in the prior summer window but they want a lot of money for him. I heard that even a €40m offer last summer wasn’t enough.
“I’m hearing that Tottenham will try again but that Chelsea and Arsenal are also keeping an eye on the player.”
The going could get tough for the Londoners, however, should league leaders Arsenal join in the race – particularly, one should rightly imagine, if the Gunners secure their first Premier League title since 2004.
With a fee in excess of €40m (£34.9m) likely to be required to prise the player away from Leverkusen, Mikel Arteta’s men certainly look best-placed to land the centre-half as things currently stand.
Judging by Hugo Lloris’ ongoing struggles for Antonio Conte’s outfit between the sticks, of course, perhaps Tottenham’s money would be better spent landing a new goalkeeper.
With likely expensive options – including Everton’s Jordan Pickford (in reports cited by BBC Sport) – touted, the club may need to concentrate funds on addressing this situation first.