Celtic

Exclusive: Serie A expert gives verdict on reported Celtic target

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Serie A expert Conor Clancy believes that Aaron Hickey has done a fine job at adapting to life in the Italian top-flight with Bologna amid links with Celtic.

The Sun reported in May that the Scottish giants were eyeing a move for Hickey, even promising him to Eddie Howe as a new signing, amid a flirtation with the former Bournemouth manager.

Howe will not be taking the reins at Celtic, per reports, but Hickey may remain a target after a decent season in Europe and with the club needing a new left-back to replacing outgoing loanee Diego Laxalt.

Should Celtic sign Hickey this summer?

Yes

Yes

No

No

Indeed, Bologna only signed the 18-year-old from Hearts in September of 2019, paying £1.5m to bring him to Italy.

He has gone on to make 12 appearances in all competitions at left-back, although he was forced to undergo surgery at the end of the campaign, curtailing his involvement.

Clancy was impressed with what he saw from Hickey when he was fit, though he believes that he does have a problem when it comes to his positional play, though he is still a teenager.

Speaking exclusively to This Is Futbol, Clancy, who is the editor-in-chief of Forza Italian Football, said: “He’s done quite well. There’s a lot of goodwill for basically any player from Northern Europe, that comes to Italy.

“People want to see them do well, especially when they come across as being quite likeable, and Hickey has definitely done that.

“He’s one of those, he doesn’t look like a footballer because he looks like he’s still 14, but he’s done reasonably well under Mihajlovic, and Bologna are a bit of a funny team too.

“Perhaps Italian football mightn’t be for him just yet. I’ve found him to be a little bit positionally unaware, he’ll be caught in a funny place every so often but his technical ability, he looks quite tidy, he’s good defensively other than the positional things as well.”

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