According to The Athletic, Premier League side Aston Villa have backed off in the transfer race for Bologna’s Aaron Hickey and this move indicates that the youngster might be on his way to Arsenal.
Villa have been trying hard to sign the 19-year-old but now that he is on his way to the Emirates Stadium, Steven Gerrard is said to be focusing on other targets like Anderlecht’s Sergio Gomez and Rangers’ Calvin Bassey(who can also double up as a full-back).
Aaron Hickey moved to Bologna from Hearts in 2020 and in these two seasons, he’s become a vital part of their squad. He won the Golden Boy award in his first season and in 2021/22, he scored five and assisted one goal in 36 league outings for the I Rossoblùs.
The Gunners had made an initial offer of £21 million and now that Aston Villa have cooled off their interest, chances are this figure will be enough to convince Bologna and trigger a sale.
Graeme Souness (Aaron Hickey) “I am really interested to see how this young man does, if you’ve played 36 games this year in Serie A, then you have something about you. Its not an easy league” pic.twitter.com/gcjgNM4uPo
— Osman 🎗 (@OsmanZtheGooner) June 1, 2022
Is Aaron Hickey a necessary signing for Arsenal?
Arsenal have beaten teams like Villa, West Ham United and Newcastle United in this transfer race and the 19-year-old will turn out to be a vital signing for Mikel Arteta.
Kieran Tierney has been massively injury-prone since joining the Gunners and Nuno Tavares has not been up to the mark so next season, Aaron Hickey can be the perfect understudy to his national teammate.
Apart from playing as a left-back, the Scottish international can also operate as a left-sided midfielder and this versatility can make him a very handy signing during this window.
Mikel Arteta is undoubtedly bringing Aaron Hickey as a future investment and for a fee of around £21 million, the 19-year-old is a very good buy. Now, the one thing he has to do is to keep his focus and replicate the form he showed in the Serie A.
