Mikel Arteta put his reputation on the line with a bold 5-word Piero Hincapié claim

Mikel Arteta is not usually the type to jump the gun. While he will always stand by his players, at least publicly, he is not accustomed to making bold claims unless he can back them up.

But if there is any time for the Arsenal boss to be confident about how his project is going, it's now. Arsenal is top of the Premier League by a whopping four points. A gap this large cannot be undermined this early in the season. It is particularly impressive considering the next realistic title contender, Man City, is fourth, and six points behind Arsenal already.

This gap was enlarged due to Arsenal beating Crystal Palace and Man City losing to Aston Villa. In the game against Palace, new Arsenal defender Piero Hincapié was given a surprise but well-deserved run-out.

Mikel Arteta is clearly on the side of Piero Hincapié

Piero Hincapié was hardly given enough time to prove himself to the Arsenal faithful, but at the same time, he didn't put a foot wrong either.

Mikel Arteta's telling words after the game were bold, for sure, but it's nice to see he believes in the Ecuador defender.

After the match, Arteta said: “Our fans are gonna love Piero Hincapié, mark my words. It’s great to have Piero on the pitch. You could sense immediately his aggression, his commitment in every action that he does".

Those bold four words 'our fans are gonna love' are important to us for two reasons: The first being that Mikel Arteta is willing to put his reputation on the line by claiming this, and the second being that he has Arsenal fans' interest at heart (that one doesn't come as much of a surprise).

This week, Arsenal faces Brighton and Hove Albion in the League Cup. There is every chance that Piero Hincapié plays this match; Arsenal fans would have a much better gauge of what Hincapié is all about, then.

We've said before that Piero Hincapié has a similar playing profile to former Arsenal defender Sead Kolašinac. The Bosnian defender wasn't exactly world class at Arsenal, but he did lift a Europa League trophy against Piero's Bayer Leverkusen team, which counts for something.

Hincapié is a humble guy, and everybody he's previously worked with will tell you nothing but good things about his personality. On the field, though, it's a different matter. He's a beast, and he'll stop at nothing to win the ball for his team. That will certainly sit well with the Emirates faithful.