Christophe Berra has told The Scottish Sun that Bologna defender Aaron Hickey could be an ideal summer signing for Celtic under new head coach Ange Postecoglou.
Berra played with Hickey at Hearts before the left-back moved to Italy last September, two years after Celtic released him. The 19-year-old never played a senior game for the Hoops after a brief spell in the Glasgow outfit’s academy.
But Hickey caught Bologna’s eye after one season of first-team football, and could now be heading back to Celtic. The Scottish Sun claim the Hoops bid £3.5m and that talks with the teenager are expected to begin this week.
Postecoglou wants to bring Hickey back to Parkhead, while Celtic executives are confident Bologna will sell and that personal terms will not be an issue. He would then be expected to challenge Greg Taylor and Boli Bolingoli for minutes, but Berra backs Hickey to thrive.
“Aaron’s always had that attacking intent,” Berra said. “He can add that bit more to his game, getting to the byline and getting crosses in. But the beauty of him still only being 19 is that there’s so much more to come from him. That will all come.
“He has a lot of tools in his locker to have a very successful career, with Celtic or somewhere else. At Celtic, he would be expected to get plenty of assists as a full-back. I don’t know Ange Postecoglou but from what I’ve read, he’s really into attacking football.
“Aaron’s technical, he likes to make passes and keep things simple. Postecoglou, I’d imagine, would be demanding him to get up and down and get crosses in. That’s the modern day full-back. Aaron could do that for Celtic, no issue.”
Berra backing ideal for Postecoglou amid Celtic interest in Hickey return
Berra backing Celtic to sign Hickey from Bologna is ideal for Postecoglou as the Greek looks to stamp his mark at Parkhead. The Hoops are accepting they got it wrong releasing the full-back in 2018 by now spending millions bringing him back.
That could be somewhat of a risk after the teenager only played 12 times, starting 10, for Bologna last season. He failed to offer any goals or assists for the Italian side, either, and only provided one assist at Hearts.
Luckily, at 19, Postecoglou can still work on Hickey’s output if Celtic are able to strike a deal with Bologna. The Hoops boss will demand the £16,000-per-week gem improves his output, like Berra expects, given the importance of creative full-backs.
But the raw fundamentals are why Berra believes Hickey would thrive under Postecoglou at Celtic for, potentially, years to come.
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