I saw it was him and thought: ‘Leave one on him’. You can’t really respect reputations
In only his second game for Brentford, Hickey cleaned out Ronaldo as his team thrashed United Mudryk is a top player and I took confidence from playing against him in Nations League
STILL three months short of his 21st birthday, Aaron Hickey has proved himself an accomplished performer in the top leagues of Scotland, Italy and England. The recipient of an eighth full international cap against Cyprus yesterday, the defender’s rapid development suggests there are higher rungs to climb. There seems little prospect of the defender succumbing to vertigo.
Hickey’s move abroad from Hearts to Bologna in 2020 demanded courage and fortitude as he stomached the double burden of homesickness and a Covid lockdown.
Those two challenging years in Serie A earned a move to Brentford where he has shown a healthy disregard for the reputations of the Premier League’s brightest stars.
In only his second game for the Bees, Hickey cleaned out Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo in a challenge that proved the defining image of a 4-0 win for the London club.
Confident and assertive on the pitch, the bashfulness he displays when invited to discuss that incident betrays the fact he has only recently emerged from his teens.
‘People are always bringing up that challenge,’ he says. ‘All my pals kept sending me clips of the tackle and saying it was brilliant.
‘I guess you can’t really respect reputations too much. It’s a game of football and you’ve got to do what you have to do.
‘I sort of saw out of the corner of my eye that it was him and thought “leave one on him”. After it, I made sure he was alright. He is the biggest star I’ve faced and it was an amazing experience.
‘Sometimes you get a little bit nervous when you are up against wingers you have seen as a kid.
‘When I was younger, it was when I faced Celtic and Rangers and now it is Premier League wingers.
‘Once the game kicks-off the nerves disappear.’
Hickey’s education continues with another step up this midweek. The visit of Spain to Hampden brings a new-look squad to Glasgow with one face very familiar to Hickey. Goalkeeper David Raya has spent his entire senior career in English football and, although he is set to play back-up to Kepa Arrizabalaga, Hickey holds his Bees team-mate in the highest regard.
And in advance of these qualifiers he has been steadily picking the brains of the shotstopper to get a feel for the opposition.
‘I’ve been asking him about individual players to see what they are like, continues Hickey. ‘He’s really good himself, David Raya, probably one of our best players at Brentford.
‘I am just looking forward to it. Spain have a lot of young, amazing players. I have played against (Alvaro) Morata and when the Champions League is on, I look to see what the top players are doing to try to take it into my own game.’
Such devotion to selfimprovement has been a hallmark of Hickey’s career. Handed a Hearts debut by Craig Levein aged just 16, just weeks later he was starting a Scottish Cup final against Celtic and more than held his own.
The Parkhead club had lost the young defender to Hearts from their academy system in 2018 and made several attempts to entice him back to Glasgow but Hickey already had his sights set on somewhere further afield.
The challenge of Italy proved impossible to resist. ‘I knew I had to do it, go away and learn a bit,’ he explains. ‘I was in two minds of not really wanting to go but knew I had to do it for my football.
‘I found it especially hard because when I went over, Italy was in lockdown. There was nothing open and you couldn’t do very much.
‘It was difficult for the first two, three months and I also got injured in that time. Gradually, it got better and I managed to enjoy it the second year round.
‘I am happy I did it. It has helped me be much stronger mentally and just more mature.’
After two years, Bologna turned a €15million profit on the full-back and reinvested it in another young Scot, luring midfielder Lewis Ferguson from Aberdeen.
Just as Hickey impressed with his versatility and technical ability to play off both feet, so Ferguson has proved a big hit in an attacking midfield role.
A few years older and without the restrictions of a pandemic, Ferguson has slotted in to life in Serie A.
If Josh Doig has found life tougher at Hellas Verona since moving from Hibs, their very presence in one of the big European leagues has established an encouraging new precedent for young Scots.
‘Lewis actually came up to me on the bus one day with Scotland and told me Bologna were interested in him,’ says Hickey. ‘I told him to try it because I was sure he’d like it.
‘Lewis and Josh are both doing really well, so I’m sure that will open doors for others.
‘I’d recommend it to anyone. Lewis is always texting me: “Where’s good to eat?” and I’m telling him the good restaurants.’
Hickey confesses that he didn’t master Italian during his time abroad, perhaps no great surprise given the social limitations, but he did strike up a bond with his manager Sinisa Mihajlovic.
The former Serbian international stepped down during his final months battling leukaemia last year but left a lasting impression on Hickey.
‘He was good but he didn’t speak English, so it was just hand gestures,’ says Hickey. ‘He was really good for me.
‘The Italians don’t know too much about Scottish football. They think of aggression. They think you’re a hard man. Being able to play with both feet helped me a lot. At Bologna, I was right-back but it was mostly left wing-back.
‘If the gaffer puts me on the left, I’ll focus on working with my left foot and it’s the same if I’m on the right. That came naturally to me.’
Given the rich pool of options available on the left in Andy Robertson, Kieran Tierney, Greg Taylor and now Doig it has been
helpful for national coach Steve Clarke to see Hickey flourish on the right with Brentford.
When he left Hearts, the 20-yearold always had a medium-term plan to make out in England’s top flight and he’s landed at one of the country’s most progressive and high-achieving clubs.
As with Mihajlovic, he has enjoyed hearing the fresh voice of Thomas Frank with the added benefit of understanding the German’s fluent command of English.
‘Brentford are a Premier League team and my aim was always to go there. The gaffer impressed me and I felt it was the right move. He is a good guy who motivates the team. He has shown faith in me.’
Hickey regards a 4-1 defeat at Newcastle as his toughest assignment yet but his displays in quelling Chelsea’s new £60m signing Mykhailo Mudryk in Scotland’s Nations League matches last autumn were a sign of his ability to play at elite level.
‘I’d heard about Mudryk as he was meant to come to Brentford,’ he adds. ‘He is a top player and I enjoyed playing against him. That gives me some confidence because we’ll be playing Chelsea soon.’