Can Piero Hincapie play for Arsenal against Bayer Leverkusen in Champions League? | OneFootball

Ecuador defender is currently on loan with the Gunners, who face his parent club in the last 16

Arsenal have been drawn against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League last 16.

After winning all eight fixtures to top the table ahead of Bayern Munich and complete the perfect league phase, Arsenal avoided a knockout phase play-off tie.

Furthermore, as a result of finishing first, the Gunners have secured home advantage for their remaining fixtures in the knockout stages.

Arsenal knew ahead of Friday’s draw that they would next take on one of the winners of the knockout phase play-offs between the 15th/16th and 17th/18th seeds in the round of 16 next month.

Their potential opponents were narrowed down from four to two following the conclusion of the play-offs after Bayer Leverkusen overcame Olympiacos 2-0 on aggregate and Atalanta roared back to oust Borussia Dortmund.

Interestingly, Piero Hincapie is currently on a season-long loan at Arsenal from Leverkusen. Could that complicate matters now the Gunners have drawn the 2023/24 Bundesliga champions? The short answer is no, much to Mikel Arteta’s relief.

Can Piero Hincapie play for Arsenal against Bayer Leverkusen?

In the Premier League, a loan player is not allowed to play against his ‘parent’ club. The rule handbook states that "during the period of the temporary transfer... a player shall not play against the transfer or club". This has been the case since 2004.

In the league phase, Nicolas Jackson played for loan club Bayern Munich against parent club Chelsea, as did Randal Kolo Muani, scoring twice for Tottenham in a 5-3 loss to Paris Saint-Germain.

Arsenal are expected to trigger their option to sign Hincapie on a £45million permanent deal in the summer following a fine start to life at the Emirates Stadium.