With Josh Doig still at Hibernian, it appears Celtic have made their decision on who they want as their next left-back in Aaron Hickey.
The Hoops have been linked with both players in recent months. Back in the winter window, it had been reported by Sky Sports that Celtic were considering a move for Doig this summer.
But all of the speculation in the summer window has instead revolved around Hickey. Several outlets have now put out pieces linking us with an interest. The Scottish Sun, for example, claimed that we were confident of agreeing a deal for the former Hearts prospect at some stage this week.
The news has also been picked up by Italian media. Il Resto del Carlino believes both Celtic and Fiorentina are trying to buy Hickey [print edition, 06/07, page 68]. They report that Bologna want as much as €8m [£6.8m] for the player’s services.
This isn’t the first time Celtic have moved for Hickey either. Last summer, the player himself claimed that he’d rejected offers from Parkhead in the past, including one a year ago [Scottish Sun].
Josh Doig remains an option, but Celtic look like they want Aaron Hickey more
Of course, it doesn’t mean that Hibernian full-back Doig isn’t a potential option. Should Celtic be priced out of a move for Hickey, for example, he would be one of the players you have to imagine we would be interested in.
But it’s not as if Doig is going to be a bargain signing either. The latest being that Hibs are looking for around £4m for their prized asset [Scottish Sun].
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Hickey would come with that bit more experience and at 19, still has plenty of room for growth. You can understand Celtic’s desire to bring him back to the club he was previously on the books with.
Some may say that there’s a chance we could sign both. But let’s be realistic. If we splash out anything over £3.5m on a left-back, we’re not going to be buying another one at anything over that. Not to mention we would have Hickey and Greg Taylor available.
Celtic have a host of other positions they need to be ready to strengthen in this summer too. We can’t justify as much as £8m or anywhere near it on the full-back position.
So for now, it looks as though Doig is on the backburner. Not that that’s a bad thing. Securing Hickey would be just as good a deal for the club – for the right price.