View: Aston Villa not signing Aaron Hickey is for the best
Aston Villa target Aaron Hickey is set to sign for Premier League rivals Brentford, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The Scottish left-back was heavily linked with a move to Villa earlier this summer by the Birmingham Mail.
However, Fabrizio Romano reported on Saturday afternoon (2 July) that Hickey has instead chosen to sign for Brentford in a £14million deal.
The 20-year-old star has spent the last two years at Italian side Bologna after joining them from Hearts.
Hickey has impressed in Serie A, breaking into the Scottish national team as well as attracting interest from the likes of Villa and Arsenal.
Would not make sense
While it is very easy to justify Hickey coming to Villa from the club’s perspective, you cannot do the same for the player.
Hickey is a young starlet who needs regular senior football in order to continue his development, but he would not get that at Villa. Lucas Digne signing for £25million in January essentially killed all hope of signing Hickey coming in this summer.
The French international is renowned as one of the best left-backs outside the top six and Villa cannot drop him after just half a season.
At Brentford, Hickey can get regular Premier League football for an emerging team and give himself the opportunity to impress again.
That being said, who is to say he will never come to Villa?
Brentford’s ‘moneyball’ strategy leaves them open to selling their stars, with many heading to Villa Park.
Villa have signed Scott Hogan, Ezri Konsa and Ollie Watkins from The Bees since 2017 and are intimately aware of how open they are to selling.
So, if Hickey continues to shine at Brentford, Villa can easily throw some money at them to take Hickey off their hands, assuming Villa continue their own positive development.
While it may be upsetting to miss out on such a talented player, this is the best for his long-term future.
In other Aston Villa news, we assessed which players should stay and go this summer.