Often, when a full-back is forced to fill in on the opposite flank, he tends to look about as comfortable as a gazelle in the Lion enclosure at Chester Zoo.
Not Aaron Hickey.
According to former Hearts manager Craig Levein, many at Tynecastle thought Hickey was more comfortable with his right foot than with his left.
But it is on the left-hand flank where the Glasgow-born teenager has made a name for himself. Not only as one of Scotland’s brightest talents but also as one of Serie A’s breakthrough stars.
Hickey’s energy and industry down the left-hand side have earned him plenty of admirers in Emilia-Romagna and beyond since joining Bologna from Hearts in a £1.5 million deal last year,
The 19-year-old is regularly linked with German giants Bayern Munich. Celtic, meanwhile, would relish the prospect of re-signing a player who spent time in their academy before swapping Glasgow for Edinburgh.
Reports claim Celtic made a £3.5 million bid in the summer.
It is not Gerrard however but another Villa coach who may be central to a deal that would see Hickey return to British soil.
Is Serie A star Aaron Hickey joining Aston Villa?
“He has incredible resilience for a young guy. He’s different in that respect,” said Austin MacPhee, the one-time Hearts coach now working as a set-piece expert at Villa Park (Scottish Sun).
“He’s so young he could play a lot of positions. He could end up being like (Barcelona legend Sergio) Busquets.
“Right now, he reminds me of Jonny Evans, who I’ve seen in training with Northern Ireland. It’s the way he defends, moves and always wants the ball as a defender.
“It will be interesting to see where Aaron ends up but he’s a young player I would hang my hat on. He’s tall enough to play at centre-back too.”
It’s certainly become a trend in recent years; central midfielders dropping in at centre-half to make use of their ball-playing skills and pristine positional sense.
Nemanja Matic even played in defence during Ralf Rangnick’s second game in charge of Manchester United during Wednesday’s 1-1 Champions League draw with Young Boys.
MacPhee won’t be surprised if Hickey, at some point in the future, undergoes a similar transformation.
Could Aaron Hickey be a midfielder at Aston Villa?
“Look at Pep Guardiola — he made Fernandinho a centre-back at Man City, he made Joshua Kimmich, who’s 5ft 9, a centre-back at Bayern Munich and he made Javier Mascherano a centre-back at Barcelona,” MacPhee adds.
Should Aston Villa make Hickey the first signing of the Steven Gerrard era, it’s likely he would end up competing with Matt Targett rather than Douglas Luiz and Marvelous Nakamba for a place in the starting XI.
The versatility that shone through during his formative years at Hearts, however, would do Hickey’s chances of regular minutes no harm at all.
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