Arsenal are working on a deal for Bayer Leverkusen centre back Piero Hincapie.
The Ecuador international has been on Arsenal's radar for some months and has expressed a desire to leave the Bundesliga club amid growing interest from Premier League sides.
Hincapie has a £52million release clause but Arsenal are exploring ways of striking a deal on reduced terms.
The Ecuador international shares the same agent as Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo.
He had been proposed to the Stamford Bridge club as Enzo Maresca voiced concerns about having suitable cover but Chelsea moved to say they would not be pursuing a deal.
Tottenham, Newcastle and Liverpool had also looked at Hincapie though Leverkusen have been saying he was not for sale for anything less than his release clause as they have already lost too many key players this summer with Liverpool's new additions Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong among them.
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Arsenal still ideally need to offload Porto target Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko who is wanted by Fenerbahce among others, before they can commit funds to the deal but Hincapie is keen on the move.
Fabio Vieira is another expected to be sold.
Should the Gunners land Hincapie, it would take their summer spending beyond £300million, having signed Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Martin Zubimendi, Viktor Gyokeres, Cristhian Mosquera, Christian Norgaard and Kepa Arrizabalaga already.
Moreover, it would take Arteta's spending as Arsenal boss beyond the £1billion mark, having taken over at the Emirates in 2019.
