Hearts are in line for a multi-million windfall as former Celtic Academy defender Aaron Hickey is set to sign for Brentford from Bologna for an initial fee of £14 million with various add-ins taking the deal up to £19m. And that will mean Hearts will be collecting just  short of £2m for a player Celtic allowed to slip through our fingers.

Paul Gillespie takes up the story…

Former Celtic star Aaron Hickey is set to seal a move to English Premier League club Brenford today, as reported by transfer guru Fabrizio Romano. The transfer specialist updated everyone via Twitter to confirm the young Scot was flying to England from Italy today, hoping to finalise terms on a deal that will keep him at the London club until 2027.

Scotland’s defender Aaron Hickey keeps his eyes on the ball duringl match between Scotland and Poland at Hampden. March 24, 2022. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The five-year deal comes after a raft of interest in the full-back – with Arsenal also said to be keen on securing his services. It now looks as though the ex-Hoops academy player will put pen to paper in a deal worth €22 million to his current side Bologna in Serie A. An absolute nonsensical figure when you think Celtic sold him to Hearts for pennies merely a couple of years ago.
After leaving the Edinburgh side, he decided Italy and Sinisa Mihajlovic’s side were the best place for his footballing development and its proven the correct decision. Hickey has went from strength to strength under the Serbian and hasn’t looked back. He has even garnered the praise of various pundits and footballing publications in Italy and beyond such was his blistering start to life in the Italian city.
    Aaron Hickey celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Serie A match between Bologna FC v Genoa CFC at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on September 21, 2021 in Bologna, Italy. (Photo by Mario Carlini / Iguana Press/Getty Images)
For the Bhoys, it will be another case of ‘what if?’. For some reason we fail to keep hold of lots of players who go on to have great careers in the game. Celtic should always ensure they have a strong core of homegrown players, as it is the foundation of who we are as a club. Andy Robertson was another who was released from the Celtic Academy and look at his progression and trajectory. It’s an error we must correct quickly.
The lost revenue alone is enough to kick yourself. But now we wish Aaron all the very best as a former player and hope his start to life in Brentford is as auspicious as the one he managed in Italy with Bologna. I’m sure there will be plenty more Scotland international caps around the corner if he maintains his current development curve.
Here is the update from Fabrizio Romano earlier: