Aaron Hickey completes eye-popping £18m move to Brentford Premier League as Scottish star’s rise continues

SCOTLAND International Aaron Hickey has secured his big Premier League move after completing a stunning £18million move to Brentford.

The 20-year-old has achieved a rapid rise just under four years after making his breakthrough at Hearts by signing a five-year deal for Thomas Frank’s side.

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The initial amount is estimated at £14m, rounded up to £18.8m with add-ons.

Hickey first caught the eye after breaking into the Hearts first team aged 17, most impressively in their Scottish Cup final loss to Celtic.

Then Hearts manager Craig Levein revealed that the Hoops had made several attempts to re-sign the youngster who was originally on their academy’s books.

His performances during the Jambos’ relegation campaign have not only sparked interest from national teams, but also abroad, with European giants Bayern Munich and Italian side Bologna believed to be interested.

A statement from Brentford read: “We have completed the signing of Scottish international defender Aaron Hickey.

“The 20-year-old joined The Bees from Bologna late yesterday, Friday July 8, for an undisclosed fee – subject to international clearance.”

“He has signed a four-year contract and will train with us this morning as the countdown continues to the new Premier League season.

Brentford head coach Thomas Frank said: “I am very happy that we have been able to sign Aaron.

“What he has already achieved in his career is very impressive. He is only 20 years old and has played a full season in Scotland as well as almost two seasons in Serie A.

“We believe Aaron is a player with great potential, who already has an impressive number of games at a good level under his belt.

“We think we’ve proven that we’re a good club for players to maximize their potential. We think we can help them be even better.

“Aaron is a rare thing in modern football in that he is equally good with both feet.

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“He’s technically very solid and he’s good when he has the ball in tight areas. He’s an attacking full-back who has good creativity, he’s a great center-ball player and has scored goals in Serie A. last year.

“Having played two years in Italy, we know he will have good defensive traits.

“There are areas for improvement and we are looking forward to having him with us so that we can be part of his development as a player.”

Brentford FC Director of Football Phil Giles said: “We tried to sign Aaron in January but unfortunately, as with so many mid-season transfers, it was not possible to complete a deal at this time. the.

“We thought it was better to wait until the summer and try again, and Aaron was one of our main targets for this window. I’m delighted that we finally managed to sign Aaron and I’m sure he will be a great success with us.

The defender completed a seven-figure move to Bologna in 2020 where his stock has continued to rise.

He was eventually named as one of the best young players in Europe before making his Scotland debut in the 3-1 loss to Ukraine in the 2022 World Cup play-off semi-final.

He flew to London earlier this week to finalize his move to Brentford Community Stadium.

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