Aaron Hickey has been linked with a move to English Premier League club Aston Villa in the winter transfer window. The Midlands based club brought in the now former Glasgow Rangers manager, and Liverpool legend, Steven Gerrard as their new manager and he is, according to several reports, a keen admirer of Hickley.
The Scottish starlet has been a revelation for Bologna this season playing as a wing-back and he could be making a return to the United Kingdom as soon as January.
Tuttosport reports that Aston Villa want to make some squad reinforcements for new manager Steven Gerrard in January while Bologna would not rule out selling Hickey if the offer is a lucrative one. The link seems to have some meat on the bone because one of the backroom staff at Aston Villa, is Scotland coach Austin MacPhee, who knows Hickey personally. You can learn more about the bet365 promo code and look at the odds for this transfer and indeed, on the Midlands outfit.
The 19-year-old has been with the Felsinei signed they signed him from Scottish club Hearts in September 2020 for a reported fee of €1.7 million.
Hickey was limited to just 11 Serie A appearances throughout the 2020/21 season, but he has become a regular under Coach Sinisa Mihajlovic, scoring four goals in 19 league matches.
He played for the Scotland Under-17 team three times in 2019 but he has not represented his country at any other level as yet. If he joined Villa, he could link up with Scotland international John McGinn, who joined them in 2018.
Local Birmingham reporter and Athlete journalist said of the links:
“Ashley Young provides the back-up on either side and Konsa and Hause can play at full-back if needed. The hope is that Kaine Kesler, currently on loan at Swindon Town, can step up in the next 18 months. Villa have very high hopes for him, but he might still need another loan, perhaps in the Championship, before he’s ready for the Premier League.
“With that in mind, I expect to see a new arrival at full-back in one of the next two windows. Bologna left-back Aaron Hickey is a player Villa like. Gomez can play right-back too…”
The report on FootballFanCast likens the versatility of the player to former Villa fans favourite Gareth Barry.
The valuations, and indeed the links to Hickey, seem to vary massively, from £8million up to £20million and clubs alongside Villa, also linked, include Manchester City, a club who seem to be linked with every starlet under the sun, and Celtic.
One thing is for sure, the Midlands club haven’t been shy so far in this transfer window, in their actions, as they have brough in none other than the third most expensive player in football history, Philippe Coutinho, on loan but with a key option to buy. They are also being linked with Everton left-back Lucas Digne,