NEWCASTLE NOW FIGHTING TOTTENHAM IN RACE FOR £35M STAR

Newcastle United are back in the race to sign Bayer Leverkusen defender Piero Hincapie amid claims Tottenham Hotspur want to land him. Hincapie was a man in demand last summer with a number of clubs looking to sign him from Argentinian side Talleres. Hincapie had been impressing for Ecuador at Copa American and a host of clubs were interested in signing him.

Mundo Deportivo suggested that Newcastle were one of the teams in the race. Bayer Leverkusen ended up winning the race though, luring Hincapie to the Bundesliga in a deal worth around £6.6million. Football Observatory CIES now suggest that Hincapie should be worth around £35million on the market after a strong first season at Leverkusen.

Tuttomercatoweb now claim that Newcastle still want to sign Hincapie this summer. Napoli and Roma are also in the race for Hincapie but Newcastle may hope their spending power under PIF can win them the race. It’s also worth noting that Tottenham want to sign Hincapie according to Bolavip. Tottenham are in the market for another left-sided centre back this summer and Hincapie would fit the bill.

Quick and possessing the ability to play out from the back, Hincapie would be a more natural left-sided defender in a back three than Ben Davies.

Hincapie has even told Scouted Football that his own brother compares him to Tottenham defender Cristian Romero. Tottenham have have been eyeing up Hincapie and Romero to play together but Newcastle could throw a spanner in the works. Adding a slightly smaller, quicker centre back to play next to Dan Burn make sense and Hincapie fits the bill.

Burn and Hincapie would be an all-left-footed partnership though, which is something you don’t see very often. Ultimately though, if Newcastle feel Hincapie is the right player for them, they may still go ahead with a bid for the 20-year-old.