Arsenal have only just confirmed their first Premier League title in 22 years, but the club’s recruitment staff will already be looking ahead to next season. The Gunners were confirmed as champions after Manchester City slipped up against AFC Bournemouth during the week.

It ends a more than two-decade wait for Arsenal, but the ambitious Mikel Arteta will not want to stand still. While there are celebrations to come, Arteta and his staff will already have some plans for the summer and next season.

Piero Hincapié has been superb

The first of those plans must involve Piero Hincapié, who has spent this season on loan at the Emirates Stadium. Fortunately for Arsenal, they have a £42million option to buy in the loan deal, and it’s an option they will surely take up.

While Arsenal may strengthen this summer, the first thing they need to do is make sure they do not get any weaker, and losing Hincapié would ensure that. The 24-year-old Ecuadorian has been superb in his 37 appearances for Arsenal this season.

In fact, his WhoScored average rating currently stands at 6.83 for club football, which is a hugely impressive rating. For context, there are only seven Arsenal players with a higher average rating, and granted, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães are two of those players, highlighting the competition Arteta has in his back line.

But after last season, that is the competition Arteta desperately needed in his back line, and Hincapié has provided it, giving Saliba and Gabriel a reason to remain consistent – something they arguably didn’t have last season.

Hincapié has been world-class in his operation, and the option to sign a 24-year-old who is capable of such consistency for just £42million – that’s ‘just’ in a relative sense – simply has to be taken advantage of.

And all indications do point towards Arsenal taking up the option, with Leverkusen chief Simon Rolfes saying back in March: “For Piero [Hincapié] too, of course. He’s still officially our player and is only on loan at the moment, but it will come to the [permanent] transfer, and I think for Piero it’s just as special too.”

Hincapié made headlines this week after his backside popped out unexpectedly on the pitch, but that comedic moment should be only the latest headline in a long Arsenal career for the defender, who has earned his permanent move to the Premier League champions. It would be a huge shock if the Gunners decided otherwise.