---
title: "Celtic: Hoops tried to sign Aaron Hickey last summer"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/celtic-hoops-tried-to-sign-aaron-hickey-last-summer/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "David Comerford"
section: "Celtic News"
published: "2021-10-09T11:05:16Z"
modified: "2021-10-09T11:05:16Z"
---

# Celtic: Hoops tried to sign Aaron Hickey last summer

**Celtic tried to sign former Hearts left-back Aaron Hickey from Bologna during the summer, according to Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport (via [Sport Witness](https://sportwitness.co.uk/aston-villa-came-forward-emerging-starlet-future-filled-lights-absolutely-not-transferable/)).**

### The lowdown

Hickey was actually on Celtic’s books between 2017 and 2018 before rejoining their Edinburgh counterparts.

He then enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2019/20, [making 22 Scottish Premiership appearances](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/aaron-hickey/leistungsdaten/spieler/591949/plus/0?saison=2019) and catching the eye.

Bologna boss Sinisa Mihajlovic [says](https://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/18755710.bologna-boss-sinisa-mihajlovic-tips-aaron-hickey-great-future-impressive-debut/) Hickey possesses ‘both personality and quality’ and has a ‘great future ahead of him’ in the game.

Last year, he featured on a list [compiled by the CIES Football Observatory](https://football-observatory.com/IMG/sites/b5wp/2020/wp311/en/) of the 100 most valuable most young players in the top-five leagues. Also on the list were the likes of Jadon Sancho, Mason Greenwood, Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden.

\[freshpress-quiz id=”368506″\]

### The latest

The [report](https://sportwitness.co.uk/aston-villa-came-forward-emerging-starlet-future-filled-lights-absolutely-not-transferable/) states that Celtic, along with their arch-rivals Rangers, made approaches ‘again’, indicating that he’s a long-term target.

There was also interested from English Premier League side Aston Villa but Bologna made clear to Hickey’s suitors that he was ‘absolutely not transferable’.

### The verdict

Celtic’s left-back situation has been described as a [‘mess’](https://theathletic.com/2849616/2021/09/26/celtics-left-back-mess-is-symptomatic-of-the-clubs-deeper-problems/) which [‘captures the squad’s dysfunction’](https://theathletic.com/2849616/2021/09/26/celtics-left-back-mess-is-symptomatic-of-the-clubs-deeper-problems/) by The Athletic’s Kieran Devlin, but it’s hard to imagine it would have been a problem position had they been able to pull off a deal for Hickey.

Unfortunately for the Hoops, it seems unlikely that Hickey would go back to Scotland having established himself in one of Europe’s big-five leagues.

That may feel like something of a sideways step for a player who’s attracting interest in England and no doubt beyond.

**In other news, [there’s been positive news on a key Celtic player](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/celtic-news/celtic-kyogo-furuhashi-shares-positive-injury-update/).**