Chelsea scouts have been checking on Ecuador defender Piero Hincapie’s form in Qatar.
The Bayer Leverkusen youngster is regarded as one of the best central defensive prospects around. And such has been his form over the past 18 months that several big English clubs, including Arsenal and Tottenham, have been monitoring his progress.
Chelsea know Thiago Silva won’t go on for ever and left-sided central defender Hincapie is among those being looked at as Graham Potter and his technical team study alternatives. The 20-year-old has big potential and Bayer are bracing themselves for bids for the player even as early as January having failed to qualify for the knockout phase of the Champions League.
Hincapie started his professional career with Independiente del Valle in his homeland before Talleres in Argentina.
He moved to Germany in 2021 and has flourished in the Bundesliga.
The left-footed centre-back has been rock solid for the South American side in Qatar thus far, with Ecuador having taken four points from their opening two games. They were too good for the hosts in the tournament opener, winning 2-0, before claiming a 1-1 draw with Netherlands on Friday.
Ecuador coach Gustavo Alfaro was impressed by how his side acquitted themselves in that game. The Argentinian said: “We have a great leader in Enner Valencia, but the rest of our squad are young and lack that experience.
“What I told them before the match was it’s OK to admit we’re not as good as our opponent. There’s no wrong in doing that. We prepared this match with great confidence.
“It’s a learning curve, we had to gain maturity. We might go through, we might not, but nothing will change the perception I have of my players. We’re talking about players with a great future ahead of them.”
In stark contrast, Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal was very disappointed with his side.
“I think we did not play a good match,” the veteran coach said. “We didn’t play well in ball possession, that was our problem in the first match. And all the second balls, all the duels were for Ecuador. There, you cannot win I believe.
"The clever thing today is that we played the match and have one point against a much better opponent, that’s how I see it."
