Celtic have always done well by shopping in lesser known markets to unearth some cheaper gems, but it’s likely that every club will have to go down that route soon.

That means there will be increased competition to sign every target, and it could make it harder to sign Aaron Hickey from Hearts.

A report from Sky Sports has credited plenty of teams with an interest, with Arsenal and Celtic being among them.

It’s questionable if he would be ready to make that step up to play at an elite club at this stage, but at least Celtic know he has experience of the Scottish Premiership so he should be trusted to play a part straight away.

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Despite that, our colleagues at Just Arsenal have reported that The Gunners should do all they can to sign Hickey before Celtic do.

They point to his potential and likely cheap price tag as a key reason for Arsenal to take a chance on him, while it’s also possible that he might get to play sooner rather than later.

Arsenal don’t have a lot of money and Mikel Arteta does have an ageing and average squad, so it’s understandable that they would be looking for this type of signing.

From a Celtic point of view it’s easy to say that a return to Parkhead would be the best thing for him. He would join a team where he knows he will get a chance and he could continue to play at a level where he’s already a proven talent.

Time will tell where he decides to go, but it does seem inevitable that he won’t be at Hearts for much longer.