Former Hearts Manager, Craig Levein, has revealed that Celtic made several bids for the in-demand Tynecastle youngster, Aaron Hickey, as speculation mounts around the 18-year old’s future.
Levein, speaking on BBC Sportsound and reported by BBC Sport, made the revelation but it is unlikely now that Neil Lennon and his recruitment team will follow up the interest given the form of Greg Taylor and with Boli Bolingoli as back-up.
The ex-Hearts gaffer said of the rumours linking Hickey to the Bundesliga and Serie A:
“Celtic tried to buy him back half-a-dozen times and that just got knocked back.
“Celtic tried to buy him back while he was in the first team, I think it was five or six times.
“He’s got really good defensive qualities. He likes defending, which is a rare thing these days.
“He might end up going back into the midfield area. I think he’d be a fantastic holding midfield player with his great awareness of danger and his ability to get out of tight situations with the ball at his feet.”
Celtic are well covered at left-back now and despite Hickey’s obvious talent, he would be unlikely to improve the first-team, and there remains areas of the field that Lennon will want to add reinforcements to as a priority.
Would Hickey improve the Celtic squad?
Yes
No
He has managed to retain his key players so far but it is a long time until the window shuts in October, fine tuning was always going to be the name of the game and Hickey would only become a target if Bolingoli was the subject of a bid – the Hoops gaffer has a settled squad that he knows is the strongest in the country and money won’t be spent just for the sake of it.