Aaron Hickey’s Scottish Premiership displays for Hearts have reportedly caught the eye of Championship duo Leeds United and Queens Park Rangers.
The list of clubs circling around Heart of Midlothian wonderkid Aaron Hickey is growing by the week.
Rangers, Liverpool, Manchester City and Southampton have already been linked with a teenager who was let go by Celtic just over a year ago and the list has just got a whole lot longer after another impressive performance in Hearts’ 1-1 draw with Rangers on Sunday.
According to The Sun (20 October, page 65), Leeds United and Queens Park Rangers are also eyeing arguably the most coveted youngster in Scottish football right now with Mark Warburton’s side planning a £1.5 million January bid that will give Hearts plenty of food for thought.
There are just three places and one point separating Leeds and QPR in the early Championship table and the January transfer window is already looking like a potential turning point in yet another hotly contested promotion battle.
But while Leeds are hardly short of depth at left-back, the same cannot really be said of QPR.
The Whites are yet to see the best of Barry Douglas but, in Leif Davis, Gianni Alioski and even Stuart Dallas, Marcelo Bielsa has a number of trusty deputies at his disposal.
Mark Warburton, meanwhile, has been forced to rely upon converted midfielder Ryan Manning at left-back and, while the Irishman has been a revelation in a whole new role, his performances have attracted attention from outside of Loftus Road.
The Northern Echo claimed that Newcastle were planning a £3 million bid for Manning with West Ham and Watford interested too, as reported by London News. Given that Lee Wallace hasn’t played a single match since joining QPR from Rangers over the summer and Yoann Barbet is more comfortable at centre–back, QPR could really do without losing their tenacious midfield battler-turned swashbuckling full-back midway through a season which promises so much.
But speculation over Manning’s future isn’t going anywhere and perhaps this explains why QPR are already lining up a bid for his potential successor.
And, barring a serious injury or a shock January exit, there are a number of positions Leeds need to strengthen before they turn to a new left-back.
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