Hearts have stitched Celtic up with the transfer of Aaron Hickey to Bologna with the way in which the Tynecastle club has structured the deal after it was announced that the 18-year old is heading to Italy by Edinburgh Live.
The champions are due a sell on percentage of around 30% from the sale of Hickey – which would have been around £600,ooo – however, with the Scotland youth international in the last year of his contract they have been “creative” with the details.
The word on social media is that Hickey is reportedly joining the Serie A side on a 12-month loan deal for a fee believed to be in the region of £2million with an obligation to buy the player at the end of the contract – because he will essentially be a free agent, his transfer fee will be zero, the maths aren’t difficult when trying to work out Celtic’s cut and how Hearts have ensured that they don’t have to pass on any of the profit.
Should Celtic have gone for Hickey?
Yes
No
Neil Lennon had been linked with a move for the left-back although he would be unlikely to make any immediate impact on the first-team and would have cost a lot of money for a player essentially being signed for the development squad.
In fairness, Hearts need the money more than we do following their relegation to the Championship and anything that they can do to make themselves feel better – after having one of the worst summers in their history – should be allowed to pass without too much criticism, you never know, they’ll maybe get over it one day.