Piero Hincapie Returns to Training Ahead of Everton Clash

Piero Hincapie has handed Arsenal an unexpected boost ahead of their Premier League meeting with Everton, stepping back into full training far sooner than many inside the club anticipated.

The Ecuador defender, injured in bizarre fashion during a post-match warm-down after the 2-1 win over Leeds earlier this month, had been earmarked for a spell on the sidelines. Mikel Arteta even warned it could be “weeks” before the 24-year-old featured again. For a squad already juggling minutes in a gruelling run that includes a Champions League trip to Bayern Munich, it sounded like another complication.

Instead, Hincapie has cut that timeline to pieces.

After missing the win over Nottingham Forest last weekend, he was first seen back on the grass working alone in the build-up to Wednesday night’s clash in Munich. On Friday morning, he stepped back into the thick of it, joining the main group at London Colney as Arsenal sharpened up for Everton’s visit.

“Piero, let’s see,” the Arsenal manager said. “If he is able to train the next few days he can be available for Everton, which is great news.”

The mood around him matched that verdict. Hincapie looked relaxed, smiling his way through the session and, by the look of it, accepting the kind of dressing-room ritual that signals a player’s return to the fold. He was sent through a tunnel of team-mates and staff, sprinting between two lines as he absorbed a mix of cheers and playful slaps to the head before settling into the serious work.

For a defender whose Arsenal season has yet to truly ignite, it felt like a small reset. The freak nature of his setback, coming not in a tackle or a sprint but in the comedown after a routine substitute appearance, only added to the frustration. Now, with Everton looming and the schedule tightening, he is suddenly back in the conversation.

There was another moment of note on the training pitch. Jurrien Timber, a quieter presence amid the morning’s noise, was presented with a special framed shirt to commemorate his 100th appearance for the club. A simple gesture, but one that underlined how quickly this squad is evolving and how central Timber has become to its identity.

Arsenal’s preparations for Everton, then, carried a different energy: one eye on the league, one on Europe, and a defender sprinting through a tunnel of teammates, trying to turn an untimely injury into nothing more than a brief, forgettable detour.