Arsenal chief appears to confirm summer transfer as £86m target boost received

Arsenal welcome Everton to the Emirates on Saturday as they continue their bid for the Premier League title

Arsenal are preparing to host Everton in the Premier League as they aim to maintain their status as top-flight title favourites. Mikel Arteta's side currently hold a seven-point lead over the chasing Manchester City having played a game more.

Fresh off the back of a toughly fought 1-1 Champions League round of 16 first leg draw against Bayer Leverkusen in the week, the Gunners are back in league action. David Moyes' team, who harbour European qualification hopes, are next on the agenda.

Piero Hincapie was able to play against his parent side, Leverkusen, in the week and is expected to feature against the Toffees for a defence that has conceded just 22 league goals all season.

The Ecuadorian is currently in north London on an initial loan and although he has agreed a five-year deal for the £45million option to buy, he is not yet an Arsenal player. But a club chief's admission has all but confirmed the expected, as Mirror Football brings you the latest from the Emirates.

Leverkusen chief confirms transfer

Speaking just before Arsenal's draw against Leverkusen, managing director Simon Rolfes was asked about how special it was to welcome former player Kai Havertz back.

Rolfes not only mentioned Havertz but also essentially revealed that, as expected, Hincapie will become an Arsenal player in the summer. He said: "I've already texted him (Havertz) so I'm sure he'll need a lot of tickets as he comes from here, so there will certainly be contact.

"And then it's also nice when he went to Chelsea during Covid, it was a big farewell for us, the whole transfer was the basis for the next few years and he really left something here.

"Because of Covid there was never the environment, the opportunity to say goodbye to him, even if we saw each other afterwards. But now I think it's a very special setting for him to come back to the BayArena and for Piero [Hincapie] too, of course.

"He's still officially our player and is only on loan at the moment but it will come to the transfer and I think for Piero it's just as special too."

Arsenal get £86million boost

Regarding other summer moves, former Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez has been linked with a transfer to the Emirates. He is currently thriving in La Liga with Atletico Madrid.

Spanish outlet Sport now reports that Arsenal have essentially been handed a boost in their rumoured bid to sign the Argentine as his current club are allegedly unwilling to sell to certain clubs.

Barcelona had been linked with the 26-year-old, whom Atletico will reportedly only listen to offers in excess of £86m for, but this latest update suggests that he won't be sold to such a close rival.

Alvarez would already have endeared himself to Arsenal fans with his midweek performance against bitter rivals Tottenham. He grabbed two goals in a 5-2 win.