Brentford have signed defender Aaron Hickey from Bologna for an undisclosed fee.
Hickey began his career playing for Hearts then Celtic at youth level only to opt to return to Hearts after four years with The Bhoys, which paid off as he graduated to Hearts’ senior team and scored once in 33 appearances.
His performances however impressed Italy’s Bologna who fought off interest from Bayern Munich and Celtic to sign the youngster in September 2020, although he initially struggled to adapt to Italian football with 12 appearances in 2021-22 season in all competitions.
Last season however saw Hickey hit back with five goals in 36 appearances in Serie A which saw him attract further attention, with Brentford ultimately beating off competition to sign the 20 year-old on a four-year contract, who had made his Scotland debut earlier this year.
Brentford manager, Thomas Frank felt “very pleased” to have signed Hickey as he praised the defender’s “impressive” record of a full season of Scottish football and two seasons in Italy all before he turned 20 years old last month.
Frank however iterated that Hickey is a player for the long-term at Brentford as he explained: “We think that Aaron is a player with great potential, who already has an impressive number of games at a good level under his belt.
“We believe that we have proven we are a good club for players to maximise their potential. We think we can help him be even better.
“Aaron is a rare thing in modern football in that he is equally good with both feet. He is technically very sound and is good when he has the ball in tight areas.
He is an attacking full back that has good creativity, he is a great crosser of the ball, and scored goals in Serie A last year.”
Frank though urged patience from Brentford supporters as he noted that despite “good defensive traits”, Hickey’s ability still needs improvement as he added: “There are areas to improve and we are looking forward to having him with us so we can be part of his development as a player.”
Brentford’s Director of Football, Phil Giles added that the club had originally tried to sign Hickey in January to no avail, yet decided that it would be easier to try again this summer to secure “one of our top targets” in this transfer window.
Since he made his debut for Scotland in March in a 1-1 draw against Poland, Hickey has made four appearances in total for the Tartan Army.
Bologna meanwhile tweeted the following message in which they wished Hickey well for his future.
Aaron Hickey joins Brentford
All the best for the future Aaron 💪#WeAreOne pic.twitter.com/vzkA9Xlq1g
— Bologna FC 1909 (@BolognaFC1909en) July 9, 2022
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