Aaron Hickey compared to Chelsea star as Steve Archibald insists Bologna defender deserves senior Scotland call

Steve Archibald travelled a road that led from Rutherglen to Las Ramblas and has nothing but admiration for any Scottish kid who packs his passport in his kit bag and decides his career lies beyond these shores.

A playing career that took the striker from Clyde to Barcelona, via Aberdeen and Spurs, then brought him back home to Hibs, will be revisited next week when Archibald makes the trip from his home in the Catalan capital to the Granite City and Edinburgh for a couple of Q&A events with supporters.

Now 65, Archibald doesn’t do many public appearances these days but time and distance has not dimmed his interest in Scottish football. Far from it.

The mind of the man who won the league at Pittodrie, two FA Cups and the UEFA Cup with Spurs then the La Liga title with Barca – playing in two World Cups and a European Cup Final along the way – remains as sharp as his movement was in the penalty box.

He knows, for example, a current Scottish player plying his trade abroad – Aaron Hickey at Bologna – is raising eyebrows after apparently rejecting the chance to play for our national Under-21 team.

“He reminds me of Marcos Alonso for Chelsea,” Archibald said. “He’s got a great end product, enthusiasm, puts tackles in, gets up and down the pitch and he can score a goal as well.

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