The Ecuador international's notable absence from the list of departing players is being widely interpreted as confirmation the £45m purchase option has been triggered.
Arsenal published the names of players leaving the club on June 30 on Thursday afternoon. Hincapie's name was not among them. The significance of that omission becomes clear when set against the club's precedent: a year ago, a similar list confirmed that goalkeeper Neto and Raheem Sterling were returning to Bournemouth and Chelsea respectively after loan spells. This year, no such entry for Hincapie.
The 23-year-old Ecuadorian joined Arsenal on a season-long loan from Bayer Leverkusen last summer and established himself immediately as Mikel Arteta's first-choice left-back. He started the Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest, and was named Arsenal's Player of the Season by supporters. His performances throughout the campaign made the question of whether Arsenal would trigger their option close to rhetorical.
A formal announcement confirming the permanent deal is expected in the coming days, at which point Hincapie would become one of the first significant completed signings of Arsenal's summer rebuild.