Sky Sports pundit suggests Celtic-linked ‘wanted man’ should follow in Kieran Tierney’s footsteps

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Reported Celtic target Aaron Hickey should consider following in Kieran Tierney’s footsteps, according to Sky Sports pundit Andy Walker.

The Hearts left-back has made 22 appearances in the Scottish Premiership and 34 first-team appearances in all competitions – an outstanding feat considering he’s only just turned 18.

The Daily Mail claims Celtic are very much in the race to sign Hickey, as are Chelsea, Manchester City, Crystal Palace, Lazio, AC Milan and even Bayern Munich.

Other clubs previously linked with Hickey – who had a stint in Celtic’s academy before rejoining the Jambos – include Arsenal, Liverpool, Southampton, Norwich City, Aston Villa and Newcastle United.

With Hearts facing relegation from the Scottish Premiership, his departure now seems inevitable, even if the proposed league reconstruction was to offer a safety net for his current employers.

Walker initially suggested the “wanted man” could follow in Billy Gilmour’s footsteps by linking up with Chelsea before proposing an alternative akin to the path taken by former Hoops ace Tierney.

“As things stand, Hickey is all potential,” Walker wrote on Sky Sports. “But, like Gilmour at a young age, Hickey will have exciting choices to make soon.

“As an alternative to the option of moving to a big English club now, he could choose a career path similar to that of Tierney who won multiple trophies for Celtic in a four-year period before moving to Arsenal for a life-changing sum of money for him and £25m for his club.

“Ideally, for those of us who cover the Scottish game on a weekly basis, he would follow the trajectory of someone like Tierney or John McGinn and develop in Scotland before the inevitable riches of English football or the draw of playing abroad lure him away.”

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Hickey is an incredibly talented player, with an impressive number of games under his belt despite his young age, and his contract expires next summer so he could end up going cheap – hence it’s not surprising that he is being linked with some of Europe’s best clubs.

Returning to Celtic would enable the teenage prodigy to remain fairly close to home, but when you have some of the continent’s biggest clubs reportedly also keeping tabs on him, it’ll be a tricky task for the Parkhead side to re-sign him.