Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United have been linked with young Scottish left-back Aaron Hickey.
The manager of reported Leeds United target Aaron Hickey has responded to speculation surrounding the youngster’s future amid interest from Britain and from mainland Europe.
The Hearts youngster has played 18 times in the Scottish Premiership, scoring once, as well as appearing in the club’s Scottish Cup final last season in just his third senior appearance.
As well as Leeds being linked to the 17-year-old defender (The Sun on Sunday, print edition, page 65, October 20, 2019), a host of other clubs are believed to be interested in his services.
The Scottish Sun claimed in October that Glasgow Rangers were keen on Hickey’s services, as well as Arsenal, Southampton and Newcastle United, while The Sun (20 October, page 65) claimed that Queens Park Rangers were planning a £1.5million bid.
More recently, Manchester City were claimed by the Daily Mail to held talks with Hearts about a deal, while just this week, Serie A side AC Milan were said to be interested in the youngster, according to Sky Sports News.
However, Hearts manager Daniel Stendel has stressed that, while it is good for the player to be linked with such a move, he doesn’t want him to depart the club this month, given they are currently in relegation trouble, five points adrift at the bottom of the Scottish Premiership.
“It’s good when our player, especially in our situation, can play so well that other clubs are interested,” he is quoted by the Edinburgh Evening News as saying. “This is our way for the future, but at the moment we look at what we can do here. We want to keep all the players that we need and this is 100 percent Hickey.”
The former Celtic youth talent has earned enormous praise from several quarters including Hearts man Austin MacPhee, who has compared the teenager to Jonny Evans and Sergio Busquets, as reported by The Scottish Sun.
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