In October 2020, during his first few weeks at Bologna after signing from Hearts, Aaron Hickey questioned whether he’d made the right decision to swap Scotland for Italy.

Team meetings, conducted in Italian by manager Siniša Mihajlović, would pass him by as he struggled to cope with the language barrier.

Away from the training ground, Italy’s Covid-19 restrictions added to the sense of isolation.

“The first year was quite hard,” admits Hickey, who was also coveted by Bayern Munich prior to making the move to Bologna.

“I went straight into the team because the left-back Mitchell Dijks had been sent off and then picked up an injury.

"I managed to go in and play a couple of games, then Dijks came back and started playing ahead of me. I then got another opportunity but had some shoulder injuries.

“The first year was during lockdown, so nothing was open and I couldn’t really see what Italy was about. I also couldn’t get home because flights weren’t running.

“Lockdown and the language barrier made it hard but, as with anything, you get used to it after a while. I just knew that I had to get through it. I liked going to training - it was just my spare time that I found quite difficult.

“I went back to Scotland that summer, freshened myself up and made sure that I was ready to push on again.”

And that he did. Hickey missed just two league games for Bologna during the 2021/22 campaign.

Clocking up 2,835 minutes, he was the most-used player under the age of 21 in Serie A.

When he opened his Bologna account with a 20-yard strike in a 2-2 draw with Genoa, he became just the fourth Scot to score in Italy's top flight.

Graeme Souness, Joe Jordan, Denis Law, Aaron Hickey. The defender's goal gained him entry to an exclusive club.

“I got five goals and I’ve got good memories of those,” Hickey says with a smile.

“It’s crazy. To be with those names is a great achievement for me - I'm really proud.

“I didn’t even know I played that many games! Going around Italy and playing at different stadiums was a massive experience.

“Playing at the San Siro is like playing at the Colosseum! I liked [Paolo] Maldini and his long hair when I was growing up. Playing there was class.

“My cousins were there for that game. They were sat way up at the top, looking down at me on the pitch. I must have looked like a wee dot. It was another thing I’d dreamt of, playing in big games against big teams in big stadiums.

"It is very defensive and tactical in Italy, but I didn’t mind. It’s good to learn these things and it was a change from playing in Scotland.”

Hickey did his research before joining Bologna. He visited the club’s training ground, as well as Bayern's.

Ultimately, it was Bologna's willingness to include Hickey in their first-team squad that swayed him; Bayern - European champions at the time – were only willing to put him in their reserve team.

It wasn’t the first time Hickey had turned down a bigger club in favour of senior football.

“I started off at Hearts when I was really young – I would’ve been around 10 when I joined and I stayed until I was 12,” he recalls.

“Then I went to Celtic because it was my boyhood club. I went there for four years.

“Celtic offered me a contract, but I wasn’t playing much. I thought there would be a better opportunity to play at Hearts.

“Being young, you have to play football. You have to make the right decisions.”

Hickey returned to Tynecastle in 2018. In the penultimate game of the 2018/19 Scottish Premiership season, at the age of 16, he made his senior debut in a 2-1 defeat at Aberdeen.

“It was an amazing feeling,” Hickey recalls. “I’d dreamt of becoming a football player, so I was buzzing.

“Off the pitch I was a wee bit like, ‘I’m up with the big players here’, but as soon as we went onto the pitch it just felt normal. It was just a game of football.”

Hickey then started the following match, a 2-1 loss at Celtic.

“The manager [Craig Levein] thought I did okay against Aberdeen, so he put me in for the Celtic game at Parkhead in front of 60,000.

“That was class – I loved every minute of it. It was a sell-out at their stadium. I remember getting cramp during the last half an hour!

“I had a few of my pals in the Hearts end and my dad was in the Celtic end!”

A week later, when the sides met again, Hickey became the youngest player to start a Scottish Cup final in the modern era as Hearts were beaten 2-1 at Hampden. He was still just 16.

“That was a big one,” he continues.

“It was a tight game, and we got the first goal, but they went on to win the match. I thought we did so well – it was a good game for us.

“Because we’d gone to Parkhead the week before, and we’d only lost 2-1 and played well during the first half, we’d gained a bit of confidence. We took that into the next one.

“Before the final, when I went to have a look at the pitch and the stadium, the first team coach [Liam Fox] came up to me and said, ‘Just treat it like a reserve game’. The 50,000 fans inside the stadium made that a wee bit difficult!”

After finishing 2018/19 with a flourish, Hickey picked up where he left off the following season.

The full-back played the full 90 minutes in three of Hearts’ opening four games (all Scottish League Cup fixtures) but hit a speed bump when he returned to Aberdeen in early August.

When Jamie Walker’s poked finish made it 2-1 to Hearts with just 14 minutes remaining, the Edinburgh side looked set to begin the new Scottish Premiership season with a win, but Hickey's dismissal in the 78th minute turned the game on its head.

Sam Cosgrove converted from the spot two minutes later for the hosts, before Ryan Hedges crashed home a winner.

“I was gutted after that game,” says Hickey. “It was stupid, but I was young. It wasn’t a bad challenge, but it was a foul and I was already on a yellow card.

“As I was walking down the tunnel, I heard them score. Then they scored again. I just felt terrible for the team.

“I knew that people were going to be annoyed with me, but I think because I was young people let me get away with it. One of my friends [Connor Smith], who is my age, came down and asked if I was alright and helped me a bit.

“Afterwards I just knew that I had to move on and learn from my mistake.”

Hickey made amends the following month when Hearts, still looking for their first league win of the season, visited near neighbours Hibernian.

Stephen Mallan's long-range drive had given Hibs the lead, before Uche Ikpeazu netted an equaliser.

Hickey's looping shot – with six minutes left on the clock – earned his side a priceless victory and sparked delirium in the away end.

He is only too happy to relive that moment.

“That was class,” Hickey says with an ear-to-ear grin.

“That goal is a big highlight of my life. When I was a young boy at Hearts, I used to go to my local pitch and pretend to score in a Hearts v Hibs derby. I’d run away celebrating like the fans were going mental!

“I always dreamt of doing that, then it became true. That was a major moment for me.

“In Scotland, people look at Celtic and Rangers. That is obviously the major derby, but people miss out on Hibs v Hearts. That game is right up there. They just don’t like each other!

“The atmosphere at those games, at both stadiums, lets you know that you’re in a big game. It’s enjoyable to play in.”

Hearts’ victory at Easter Road was a rare highlight in a challenging campaign.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Scottish Premiership was curtailed on 18 May 2020, with average points per game used to determine final league position. Hearts, with an average of 0.77, were relegated to the Championship.

“It was weird because there were still some games left to play, but they were cancelled and we were told that we would just have to go down to the Championship. Nobody was happy about that,” says Hickey.

“As much as I like Hearts - they’re a great club and the fans are great - I just knew that if I went down to the Championship and came back up then I was only going to be in the same position.

“I wanted to go and progress, to try and get better and see where I could go.”

Hickey's subsequent move to Bologna provided him with a springboard to the Premier League.

The full-back has made 63 appearances for the Bees in all competitions. Having been hampered by injuries, he returned to fitness during the 2025/26 campaign and scored a stunning goal in the Bees’ Carabao Cup tie against Aston Villa in September.

Now, his journey takes him to football’s biggest stage with Scotland.

“To get through to the World Cup is a major thing for me,” says Hickey.

“I’m just delighted. I’m just so happy. I can’t believe it, to be honest. Playing at the World Cup is everything you dream of as a kid.

“I believe in manifesting. If you don’t believe in yourself and the squad doesn’t believe, then you won’t do it.

“We’re a great group, and we all believe in each other, and we all stick together. We know what we’re capable of, so we managed to prove that.”