Celtic

Celtic: Pundit makes claim on Aaron Hickey

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Pundit Jim Simonette has recently been talking about Aaron Hickey and has given some insight into the youngster’s potential links to joining Celtic.

Simonette was a guest on the latest episode of ‘A Celtic State of Mind’ podcast and the panel discussed many issues surrounding the Parkhead side. They discussed potential Celtic transfers and Simonette went on to talk about Hickey. He delivered insight into Hickey’s rise to prominence and spoke about whether he’d want a Parkhead move or not.

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Hickey has been linked with a move to Celtic in recent days. It has been reported, as per Gianluca di Marzio, that the Hoops and Bayern Munich are ‘pushing for the player’ and Celtic have already made a ‘great offer’ for the Hearts defender. Bologna are also interested.

Simonette discussed Hickey’s past experiences and how he noticed him when he was younger. He also believes that the youngster would ‘like to play’ for the Hoops again, having been part of Celtic’s U17 side during the 2017/18 campaign.

He said: “I had a wee think yesterday about Aaron Hickey, who’s a 2002 age-group player, which is an age group that I had a personal input with at [the] Jimmy Johnstone Academy, we played a lot of 2002 teams. Take them games when Aaron was playing for Hearts – watching it, I liked him. I got him picked out and I was told who he was. And then, when he came over to Celtic youth academy, I watched him there as well. At times, I thought he might have been a wee bit weak, but then the more I watched him, I liked his technique.

Do you want Hickey to join Celtic?

Yes, I'd like that

Yes, I'd like that

No, we shouldn't sign him

No, we shouldn't sign him

“And then I’ve seen him coming on in the Scottish Cup 2019 final, I think he was the youngest player to appear in a Scottish Cup final. Now you’ve got Bayern Munich, you’ve got Lyon, you’ve got Aston Villa, and there was Man City in the fold there as well, and Bologna [interested]. So, I think this young guy is worth investing in [from] a Celtic point of view. I think he’s really, really worth it. So Bologna were expecting an answer from him on August the 17th and he never gave them an answer.

“He would like to play for Celtic, I’m sure. He’s been probably offered a handsome package as well, to go elsewhere. But I think a young player like that at 18 could really make an impact at Celtic this year.”

TIF Thoughts…

Hickey had plied his trade with the Celtic U17s side for a single year and left to join the Hearts U18s side in the summer of 2018. Despite being just 18, Hickey is already a regular at Hearts and he made 30 appearances in all competitions for the club last season, including 22 times in the Premiership. He is currently rated at £540k according to Transfermarkt.

It shows that he has decent experience of playing in the Premiership at a pretty young age. Current Celtic left-back Boli Bolingoli has recently been at the centre of controversy and has been linked with a move to Amiens. The fact that Hickey was a regular in the Premiership at a tender age could be a sign of how there might be good potential in him. So because of that, signing Hickey as a potential Bolingoli replacement could make sense for the Hoops.

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European Football Writer. Contributed for FootballItalia, Manchester United, Manchester Evening News, Calciomercato, GFFN and more.