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View: Brentford fans should be encouraged by Aaron Hickey's start to life in the Premier League
Brentford fans should be encouraged by left-back Aaron Hickey’s start to life in the Premier League after his summer transfer from Bologna.
The 20-year-old has been entrusted by Thomas Frank in the early stages of the season and featured from the outset in the Bees’ 4-0 win over Manchester United.
Hickey arrived in West London with a reputation for getting forward and being an excellent attacking outlet after his spell in Italy.
He managed five goals and one assist from the full-back position for the Serie A side, however, it’s his defensive ability that has stood out since he moved to the Premier League.
As per Wyscout, Hickey has demonstrated his ability to be dependable defensively with an 80 per cent defensive duel success rate so far this season.
Furthermore, the 20-year-old has 3.3 interceptions per 90 which displays he is adapting to the pace of the Premier League and is able to read the game.
Against Manchester United, in particular, Hickey had a 60 per cent success rate when it came to latching onto loose balls when duelling with an opposition player.
His defensive stats so far should provide plenty of encouragement to Brentford and Frank with younger players sometimes taking time to adjust to their new surroundings and responsibilities.
The 20-year-old is yet to really display his attacking potential for the Bees, but he has shown that he has the quality to progress the play with his passing ability.
Against Manchester United Hickey managed 100 per cent accuracy when it came to passes into the penalty area and also managed a perfect record for forward passes, with four out of four completed.
Considering we haven’t seen his attacking attributes come to the fore as of yet, his start in the Premier League is certainly one to get excited about.
In other Football Wonderkids news, Brighton aim to beat Everton in the race to sign Chelsea midfielder Billy Gilmour