Mourinho eyes Arsenal's Hincapie as fifth Real Madrid signing in rapid rebuild

Jose Mourinho has made Arsenal defender Piero Hincapie his next transfer target at Real Madrid, with ESPN reporting that Los Blancos have already made an enquiry for the Ecuador international. The move would be Mourinho’s fifth since his return to the Bernabeu was confirmed earlier this month.

Real have moved quickly under their new manager, completing deals for full-backs Marc Cucurella and Denzel Dumfries and bringing in Bernardo Silva and Ibrahima Konate on free transfers — a combined outlay of £68m. Despite three of those four arrivals being defenders, Mourinho is pushing for further reinforcement at the back.

The 61-year-old is specifically seeking a left-footed centre-back capable of operating at left-back, a profile that Hincapie, 24, fits precisely. Any deal carries complications, however. Arsenal signed Hincapie on loan from Bayer Leverkusen last summer with an obligation to buy for £45m, and while a permanent transfer has not yet been formally confirmed, it is widely anticipated that he will return from the World Cup as an Arsenal player.

Real would also need to create space in a squad that already contains five centre-backs: Eder Militao, Antonio Rudiger, Dean Huijsen, Raul Asencio and the newly arrived Konate. The report indicates that Real are prepared to listen to offers for Asencio, whose departure is seen as the likely prerequisite for any Hincapie deal.

Hincapie made a strong impression at Arsenal during the season, earning praise from manager Mikel Arteta. “He’s been extremely dominant in all the defensive actions,” Arteta said in February. “He understands what we want in the attacking part as well much better. All the set-pieces, all the aspects that are relative to the game model that we have. He’s very much liked amongst the players.”

Hincapie is not the only centre-back on Real’s radar. Inter Milan’s Alessandro Bastoni and Borussia Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck are also on the shortlist, suggesting Madrid are casting a wide net as Mourinho looks to reshape the defence.

The timing adds an international dimension to the situation. Hincapie’s World Cup campaign with Ecuador has been difficult: they lost their Group E opener 1-0 to Ivory Coast in stoppage time and were held to a 0-0 draw by Curacao, leaving them needing a win against Germany to have a realistic chance of progressing.