Celtic FC are now the favourites to sign Hearts left-back Aaron Hickey despite strong interest from Premier League side Everton FC – as per 90 Min.
The exclusive report claims: “17-year-old Hearts left-back Aaron Hickey is set to snub the chance to move to the Premier League in favour of a return to Celtic.
“With Hearts now dropping into the second tier of Scottish football, Hickey is widely expected to leave the club this summer, and a source has confirmed to 90min that it will be Celtic who win the race for his signature.”
This is a major setback for Everton since Aaron Hickey has been rated highly in the Scottish circuit this season and the teenager has already played 22 Premiership matches for Hearts during the 2019-20 season.
And now in yet another boost, Alan Hutton has told Football Insider that not only are Celtic the frontrunners in signing the left-back but the Hoops can also sign him in a cut-price deal during the summer.
Hutton told Football Insider: “He’s so young, so, so young and for what he’s achieved so far I think is brilliant. To have played in as many games at his age, it just shows you how talented he really is.
“He’s got even better, he’s become a better player and he’s versatile as well, I think a lot of clubs look at that at the moment. He plays on the left but he can also play on the right – he ticks a lot of boxes.
“He’s definitely a player that can be moulded and made even better playing in a stronger team. I think there a lot of the positives for Celtic – obviously not for Hearts, it looks like they’re going to go down. I think maybe Celtic would get him a little bit cheaper so it’s great for them.
“Looking to the future he’s a player who could really play for years and become a real star in that Celtic team so it doesn’t surprise me they’re interested, there seems to be a lot of other clubs interested as well but he seems to favour Celtic.
“He’s been there, it’s not quite worked out, he’s had that drive, that force to go away and prove people wrong and it’s worked for him. This is a lesson for a lot of young kids.”
Right now, Aaron Hickey is valued at £473,000, as per TransferMarkt but with Hearts likely to move down to the second division, Celtic could get a big fat discount in the transfer fee.
