Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed that defender Piero Hincapie won’t be available for at least a week due to a groin injury.

Many fans would have expected the Ecuadorian international to start against Port Vale in the Carabao Cup, but speaking before the match, Arteta said that Hincapie had picked up the issue in training:

“He picked up a little groin injury. We’ll have to assess him again in the next few days to see how he goes.”

“There’s been a change of load and he didn’t really have a pre-season after the surgery that he had. We’ll have to see in the next week or so how he is. There’s no timeframe – I think it will be a short time.”

Hincapie has only made one appearance so far

Since joining the Gunners from Bayer Leverkusen on Deadline Day, the 23-year-old has been given one very brief runout by Arteta.

Hincapie came on for the final few minutes of the 2-0 win over Athletic Club in the Champions League last week, replacing Riccardo Calafiori in injury time.

After failing to make the matchday squad for the draw against Manchester City, it was reported that the centre-back had a fitness problem, but it remains to be seen how long he will be out for.

Arsenal have 4 other players on the treatment table

It has been reported that Noni Madueke will be unavailable for between 6 and 8 weeks with a knee injury. He was substituted and replaced by Bukayo Saka at half-time versus City.

Captain Martin Odegaard is still suffering with a shoulder problem he sustained during the victory over Nottingham Forest earlier this month.

Kai Havertz (knee) and Gabriel Jesus (ACL), meanwhile, are long-term absentees. Arteta has confirmed both forwards are months away from returning to full training.

Read more about the Arsenal First Team Squad for 2025/26 here