Reported Celtic summer target Piero Hincapie set for Parkhead appearance with Bayer Leverkusen

By David Walton

September 27, 2021

Reported Celtic summer target Piero Hincapie does indeed look set to make an appearance at Parkhead, but unfortunately for Bayer Leverkusen.

Mundo Deportivo claimed that the likes of Celtic, Real Madrid, PSG, AC Milan, and Roma were only some of the teams interested in the then Telleres. The price-tag wanted at the time, meanwhile, was €10m [£8.5m].

In the end, Celtic moved to sign the likes of Carl Starfelt and Cameron Carter-Vickers respectively. Whilst the latter has been a success, the former has struggled to settle into Ange Postecoglou’s new style of play.

Hincapie could very well have been the answer after an impressive Copa America with Ecuador. But it was Leverkusen who splashed out to sign him, and as fate would have it, he’s instead set to come up against us on Thursday night.

The towering defender, who can play at both centre-back and left-back, is being integrated slowly in Germany. He’s played in Leverkusen’s last three matches, but all have been cameo appearances from the bench.

Now, however, he could be in line for his first start. German outlet Kicker report that he looks set to be handed Odilon Kossounou’s spot with the latter to be handed a rest.

Celtic about to find out what they missed out on in Piero Hincapie

Well this is certainly going to be an interesting coincidence if it happens. Who would’ve thought after refusing to move for the player that he could make his first start for his new club against us? At the very least, he looks certain to make another sub appearance.

Interestingly, despite his pedigree as a centre-back, Leverkusen have been handing Hincapie a role at left-back since joining. It appears they may have different plans for his long-term future. Meaning the likes of Liel Abada and/or Jota will be up against him should he start.

It’ll be intriguing to see what we missed out on here. If he puts in a solid performance, you can bet a feeling of regret will travel amongst the Celtic support. A look at what we could’ve had if we splashed the cash for it. All that sort of patter.

Then again, Hincapie was worth a lot of money in the summer. A lot of money that Celtic had to ensure was spent wisely across the entire squad.

It’s important not to forget just how many players we needed to bring in. Even now, it still doesn’t look as if we’ve done enough as squad shortages continue to be laid bare.

But even so, the option was there to move for Hincapie and it looks like something we didn’t pursue. All eyes now on how he performs in Glasgow should he get a runout.

In other news, How all of Celtic’s UEL rivals got on over the weekend