Serie A side Bologna are confident of signing Celtic target Aaron Hickey this summer, The Sunday Post has reported over the weekend.
Celtic are long-time admirers of the Hearts defender.
Former Tynecastle boss Craig Levein told BBC Scotland last week that the Scottish champions tried to buy him from the club ‘five or six times’ after his emergence into the Jam Tarts’ first-team.
Hickey was linked with a move to Celtic as recently as last week, by The Glasgow Times.
However, it appears any interest from the Bhoys is now being superseded by clubs on the continent.
The Sunday Post say that the player has been given assurances he will serve as a first-team understudy to Dutch player Mitchell Dijks, potentially leading to appearances in the Italian top-flight and cup competitions.
Understandably that’s an attractive proposition to an 18-year-old who has just been relegated to the Scottish Championship.
The report states that Bologna now believe they will land their man for a £2m fee.
Hickey has actually been on the books at Celtic before as a younger teenager, prior to returning to Hearts and earning a spot in their senior side.
Neil Lennon already has Greg Taylor and Boli Bolingoli available at left-back so there is no urgent need for a recruit unless one of them is on the way out.
The emerging potential of Hickey would have been nice to tie down but it’s unlikely he would have directly improved Lennon’s starting eleven, which is arguably what is needed in the position.
It’ll be interesting to see if the youngster can make his mark abroad.
In other news, Celtic fans have been left impressed with the latest media comments from Patryk Klimala.
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