Hearts anticipating windfall for Serie A star Hickey

HEARTS sporting director Joe Savage has confirmed the club would land a cash windfall from the sale of Scotland international Aaron Hickey. The Bologna left wing-back was last week linked with a £20million switch to Arsenal and is also said to be attracting interest from AC Milan, Napoli, Newcastle and Brentford. Savage admits Hearts inserted a sell-on clause as part of the £1m deal that saw the 19-year-old leave Tynecastle for the Italian top-flight side in the summer of 2020. Hickey has featured 35 times in Serie A this season and scored five goals for Bologna. The teenager made his international debut in March’s 1-1 friendly draw with Poland and also featured against Austria five days later. Savage said: ‘There definitely is a sell-on. There are a lot of rumours but we need to see whether Aaron is actually going to sign for another club. We are delighted for him. He has been brilliant over in Italy, so we’re pleased about that. We do have a sell-on, so we do get a percentage of any sale. ‘You want some sort of add-ons in it or a buy-back option. You need to look after the interests of your own club. Hearts did that with Aaron.’