---
title: "Tottenham Hotspur: Antonio Conte has ‘asked’ to sign Piero Hincapie"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/bayer-leverkusen-transfer-news-hincapie-premier-league/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Adam Clancy"
section: "Premier League News"
published: "2022-12-30T17:36:44Z"
modified: "2022-12-30T17:36:44Z"
---

# Tottenham Hotspur: Antonio Conte has ‘asked’ to sign Piero Hincapie

**[Antonio Conte](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/tag/antonio-conte/) has reportedly ‘asked’ [Tottenham Hotspur](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/tottenham-hotspur-news/) to sign Bayer Leverkusen central defender Piero Hincapie in the January transfer window.**

### The Lowdown: Emerging talent

Hincapie is certainly an emerging talent in the game, and has even been dubbed ‘[South America’s best young defender](https://www.goal.com/en/news/piero-hincapie-leverkusen-wonderkid-south-america-best-young-defender/1bpavxoyofl6o1kpjlwf0du5ct)‘ in the past.

At just 20 years of age, he has already played 51 games for Leverkusen, including five times in the UEFA Champions League this season ([Transfermarkt](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/piero-hincapie/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/659813/plus/0?saison=&verein=15&liga=&wettbewerb=&pos=&trainer_id=)), and played in [every minute](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/piero-hincapie/nationalmannschaft/spieler/659813/verein_id/5750/plus/0?hauptwettbewerb=&wettbewerb_id=WM22&trainer_id=&start=Jun+8%2C+2021&ende=Dec+30%2C+2022&nurEinsatz=0) of Ecuador’s FIFA World Cup campaign in Qatar.

### The Latest: Conte request

Taking to Twitter, TuttoMercatoWeb journalist [Marco Conterio](https://twitter.com/marcoconterio/status/1608418690357239810) has revealed that Conte has personally ‘asked’ the Spurs hierarchy to sign Hincapie in January, as he ‘wants’ the central defender to reinforce his defence:

*“Antonio Conte asked for Piero Hincapie of #Bayer04 to the management of #Tottenham. The Italian coach wants the Ecuador central defender to reinforce the #THFC defence.”*

[![Tottenham latest updates!](https://cdn.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/cropped-tottenham-fans.jpg)](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/tottenham-latest-updates-2/)

### The Verdict: Get it done

Hailed as ‘[colossal](https://twitter.com/victorhdez233/status/1596200175571070976?s=46&t=l60S065k8spqpfGiu0_tKg)‘ by journalist Victor Hernandez Molina, Hincapie would certainly be an ideal signing for the North London club to improve sort their shaky defence.

After Boxing Day’s 2-2 draw away at Brentford, they have now conceded [23](https://www.premierleague.com/tables) goals in the Premier League, with only nine other sides conceding more despite sitting in fourth place.

Hincapie is already one of the best centre-backs in Europe’s top five leagues, ranking in the top 4% for dribbles completed, 7% for xAG and progressive passes received, and 8% for blocks per game over the past year, while he shares a similar playing style to the Lilywhites’ own Cristian Romero ([FBRef](https://fbref.com/en/players/0c7a48f8/Piero-Hincapie)).

Lauded as being ‘[excellent](https://twitter.com/talkSPORT/status/1539294576212684800)‘ in a back three by South American football expert Tim Vickery, Hincapie could slot in perfectly under Conte.

\[freshpress-quiz id=”419177″\]