Liverpool reportedly have eyes on one Premier League youngster in a potential swoop which’d have echoes of the signing of Andy Robertson six years ago.
According to The Mirror, the Reds are ready to submit an offer to Brentford for Aaron Hickey, who’s also attracting interest from Manchester United and Arsenal.
The 21-year-old has caught the eye at both club and international level in recent months, starring for Scotland as they close in on qualification for Euro 2024, and is likely to be valued at a minimum of £50m by the west London club.
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If Liverpool were to win the race for Hickey, he could well be the long-term successor to international teammate Robertson at left-back.
The Brentford ace is equally comfortable on either flank (Transfermarkt), so he may also be viewed as a right-sided alternative to Trent Alexander-Arnold, who in turn could be freed up to adopt the midfield role in which he’s excelled this year.
When breaking through at Hearts in 2019, the youngster was tipped for an ‘unbelievable future’ by veteran compatriot Christophe Berra (The Scotsman), and his subsequent performances at Bologna and now the Bees suggest that the 21-year-old is living up to that billing.
A tidy operator on the ball with a 90.9% passing success rate so far this term, Hickey is a pest for direct opponents (being fouled 1.8 times per match) and is very competent in his core defensive duties, winning 2.2 tackles per game (WhoScored).
Those returns would place him among the top four in Liverpool’s squad for each metric (WhoScored), so there’s every chance that he’d integrate just as effectively as Robertson did when he first came to Anfield as a 23-year-old.
The comparison with the Scotland captain is obvious, given their shared nationality and position, and the Brentford defender may well be one to keep an eye on between now and the January transfer window.