Piero Hincapie

I think this kid deserves a thread.

Very talented Ecuadorian CB who can also play as a LB. He has only turned 20 a few weeks ago but has establish himself as a starter for Leverkusen after just a few months at the club. Bayer fans already comparing him to Lucio and he also has 13 caps for Ecuador NT already. One of the best left-footed young CBs (that I know of at least) so should be worth following as a possible replacement for Lenglet/Umtiti (if Xavi will insist on having a leftie in the squad) although he's probably already out of our price range, for coming summer at least. Would still be a more economical signing than MDL or Kounde (reminds me a bit on him) but of course also less proven and a bigger risk.

Kicker: Tottenham are reportedly preparing an offer of 40 million euros for defender Piero Hincapie (20, contract until 2026).

Haven't seen him play, but read he had a very good first season in Europe. Far from a finished player and most of that 40m is paying for potential rather than instant quality.

Pretty big fan. I've already mentioned him a few times in other threads as someone we should look at if we can't get Kounde. Sadly doubt he's on our radar though as not considered as proven enough in Europe (which I can understand with just one season in BL behind him).

World class potential imo but will probably need a year or two to develop and not sure if he's ready for a step to EPL. Would probably be the best for him to stay at Leverkusen for another year but if he goes to Tottenham they would have a pretty good defense with Hincapie and Romero. Although wouldn't surprise me if Conte would also use him as a LWB sometimes as he's quite good going forward.

We should really scout South American countries like Ecuador more, they've produced some good talents and their prices are not as inflated as those of Brazilian (and in a bit lesser extent Argentinian) wonderkids.

Ideally you want to get players like Hincapie at the moment Bayer got him. The world knew he was a big prospect for a year or two already.

If there not willing to have a season in the B then I'm sure we could find a loan to a team the level of Bayer or slightly lower.

Anyways 40m is too much. 25m difference between him and Kounde makes the latter way more enticing.

Tbh more I think about this more I believe we should go hard after him if we don't get Kounde (still optimistic we'll sign him though).

Yeah, would be a risky signing and so far we've gone for more proven players this summer (which probably means he's not on our list) but I think he has brutal potential.

Best case scenario I think he could become a top 5 CB in the world in a few years (I'm aware this post might not age well but I'm ready to take a risk ) and at worst he's a very useful squad player as can play both CB and LB (versatility should also help him to get more minutes early on).

Not sure he would be a day 1 starter but he adapted fast to Bundesliga coming straight from South America and adaptation should be even easier here as already speaks Spanish obv.