Aaron Hickey

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Aaron Hickey
Personal information
Full name Aaron Buchanan Hickey[1]
Date of birth (2002-06-10) 10 June 2002 (age 22)
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Height Script error: No such module "person height".
Position(s) Full-back
Team information
Current team
 Brentford
Number 2
Youth career
2012–2014 Heart of Midlothian
2014–2018 Celtic
2018–2019 Heart of Midlothian
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2020 Heart of Midlothian 24 (1)
2020–2022 Bologna 47 (5)
2022– Brentford 34 (0)
International career‡
2019 Scotland U17 3 (0)
2022– Scotland 11 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:40, 7 October 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:47, 20 June 2023 (UTC)

Aaron Buchanan Hickey (born 10 June 2002) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a full-back for Premier League club Brentford and the Scotland national team.

Hickey played youth football for Heart of Midlothian and Celtic, before returning to Hearts where he made his senior debut in 2019. After two seasons in Italy with Bologna, he signed for English club Brentford in 2022.

Hickey represented Scotland at under-17 youth level, before making his senior international debut in 2022.

Club career

Early career

After spending time in the youth system at Heart of Midlothian, Hickey had a spell with the academy teams at Celtic. After four years at Celtic he chose to return to Hearts in 2018, with Celtic receiving 30% of a future transfer fee.[3][4]

Hearts

On 10 May 2019, Hickey made his debut for the club in a 2–1 loss away to Aberdeen, in the penultimate game of the 2018–19 season.[4][5] On 25 May 2019, Hickey started in the 2019 Scottish Cup Final against Celtic, becoming the youngest player to appear in the final since John Fleck in 2008.[6]

On 22 September 2019, he scored his first senior goal, the winner in the Edinburgh derby as Hearts won 2–1 away at Hibernian.[7]

In August 2020 he was linked with a transfer away from the club, with interest from German club Bayern Munich,[8][9][10] Italian club Bologna,[11][12] English club Aston Villa,[13] and French club Lyon.[14] Hearts manager Craig Levein also revealed that Celtic had made "five or six" attempts to sign Hickey.[15] Towards the end of the month the BBC reported that Bologna had made the first official bid for Hickey,[16] although Hearts said that the offer was too low.[17]

Bologna

Bologna made an updated offer for Hickey, which was accepted by Hearts on 8 September 2020.[18] On 24 September 2020, Hickey completed a moved to the Serie A side for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £1.5 million.[19][20][21] He said he chose Bologna over Bayern due to the Italian club's family feel, and their intention to use him in their first-team.[4] Due to the suspension of regular left-back Mitchell Dijks,[22] Hickey made his first Serie A appearance on 28 September in a 4–1 win against Parma.[23] His first season at Bologna was cut short by injury in March 2021, restricting him to 12 appearances. At the end of the season, he was nominated for the 2021 Golden Boy award.[24]

Hickey returned to Bologna's first team following his injury, starting the first game of the 2021–22 season against Salernitana, which Bologna won 3–2.[25] On 21 September 2021, Hickey scored his first goal for Bologna, in their 2–2 draw with Genoa in the Serie A.[26][27] In November 2021 he was described as "flourishing in Serie A with Bologna".[28] On 24 April 2022, Hickey became the first Scot to score 5 goals in a single Serie A season since Graeme Souness in 1984–85 for Sampdoria.[29]

Brentford

Bologna accepted an offer for Hickey from Premier League club Brentford in July 2022.[30] On 9 July 2022, Brentford announced that they had signed Hickey on a four-year contract, subject to international clearance.[31][32] Hickey regularly played on the right side of defence for Brentford during the 2022–23 season, although he missed a few months due to suffering an ankle ligament injury in October.[33]

International career

Hickey has represented Scotland U17, making his debut for the side in a 0–0 draw against France U17 on 5 February 2019.[34]

He was selected in the Scotland U21 squad for the first time in November 2020,[35] but withdrew due to injury.[36] He was recalled in September 2021,[37] but pulled out from that squad due to another injury.[38] He then also withdrew from the following squad, saying he wanted to rest.[39]

In March 2022, after being left out of the under-21 squad,[40] Hickey was included in the senior Scotland squad for the first time.[41] He made his senior international debut on 24 March in a 1–1 draw with Poland.[42]

Style of play

Hickey primarily played for Hearts as a left-back, although he can also play as a central midfielder,[4] and also right-back and centre-back, and his "versatility is yet another key attribute".[28] Hickey has been compared to fellow Scottish left-back Andy Robertson, although Hickey has played down the links.[43] He mainly played for Bologna as an attacking left wing-back, and scored five goals during the 2021–22 Serie A season.[44] Brentford have used him as either a right-back or right wing-back,[33] Most of his appearances for Scotland have also been as a right-back or right wing-back.

Former Hearts manager Craig Levein described Hickey by saying that "he's got really good defensive qualities but I don't know if he'll end up being a full-back, he might end up going back into midfield [...] he could be a fantastic holding midfielder with his great awareness of danger and his ability to get out of tight situations with the ball at his feet".[4] Levein has also said that Hickey is shy, quiet, and reserved.[4] Hearts captain Steven Naismith praised Hickey's intelligence, while Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson praised his maturity, saying that "he's like a 24- or 25-year-old in an 18-year-old's body [...] he's very mature for his age, he's composed, has good physique, ticks all the boxes".[4]

Personal life

On 13 December 2020, he tested positive for COVID-19.[45]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 7 October 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Heart of Midlothian 2018–19[46] Scottish Premiership 2 0 1 0 0 0 – 3 0
2019–20[47] Scottish Premiership 22 1 2 0 6 0 – 30 1
Total 24 1 3 0 6 0 0 0 33 1
Bologna 2020–21[48] Serie A 11 0 1 0 – – 12 0
2021–22[48] Serie A 36 5 0 0 – – 36 5
Total 47 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 48 5
Brentford 2022–23[49] Premier League 26 0 0 0 0 0 – 26 0
2023–24[50] Premier League 8 0 0 0 2 0 – 10 0
Total 34 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 36 0
Career total 105 6 4 0 8 0 0 0 117 6

International

As of match played 12 September 2023[51]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Scotland 2022 7 0
2023 6 0
Total 13 0

References

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  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 Aaron Hickey at Soccerway. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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