Teams like West Ham United, Napoli and Newcastle United were all interested in signing Bologna left-back Aaron Hickey but according to Gazzetta Dello Sport (as cited by Football.London), Arsenal seem to have won the race.
In a recent interview, Hickey stated that he is happy with how things have worked out in the Serie A as he has managed to play in 36 league games for the Italian club.
“I came to see Bologna and immediately liked the feel of it all,” Hickey said.
“The training ground, the people, the city. Serie A was a big attraction, this felt like a good move. I also thought there may well be more opportunity to play here than at a lot of the other teams. I am very happy with how it has all worked out, with the choice that I made.
“They have all been good decisions so far. They have worked out the way I wanted. I have just looked at what provided the most opportunity.”
However, it appears like the Scottish lad is heading closer to home because the reports are suggesting that Arsenal have outbid the Hammers and they have agreed on a £21 million deal with the Serie A side.
Arsenal are currently leading the race to sign Aaron Hickey from Bologna. 🏴🔴 [@Football_LDN]#Arsenal #TransferNews pic.twitter.com/f8AOA1LTwk
— Clock End News (@ClockEndNews) May 27, 2022
Is Aaron Hickey a necessary addition to the Arsenal squad?
In the past few days both Arsenal and West Ham United had launched bids for the left-back but the Gunners seem to have won the race and this one could prove to be a very important signing.
Tierney has had constant injury troubles since moving to the Premier League while his understudy Nuno Tavares has been massively disappointing, whenever he’s gotten a chance to start. Tierney has managed to play in only 22 league games in the previous season and his last outing was back in March, following which he picked up an injury.
Aaron Hickey is presumably coming into the squad as the backup to Kieran Tierney and at £21 million this seems to be a good bit of business.
Since he is just 19 years old, the left-back will get a lot of time to sharpen his skills at Arsenal and since he’s grown up in Scotland, the Premier League won’t be completely alien to him. The Gunners will be playing in the Europa League so the former Hearts player should be able to get decent game time.
Overall, Hickey has had a satisfactory season with Bologna and he’s put out some pretty decent shifts against teams like Inter and Udinese in the league.
