Aaron Hickey: Scottish teenager rejected Bayern Munich for Serie A stardom

There are not many footballers — far less 18-year-old Scottish ones — who turn down a European superpower when they come calling.

Yet Aaron Hickey did just that, opting to join Serie A club Bologna instead of Bayern Munich from Hearts in 2022, when the likes of Aston Villa and boyhood club Celtic were also reportedly keen.

A key factor in his decision was that the Italian side wanted him as an immediate part of their first-team squad, after just 33 senior games for the Tynecastle outfit.

Having surpassed that total for his new club by nailing down a regular first-team place in the Serie A team, the 19-year-old has earned a first Scotland call-up for Thursday's friendly against Poland.

How has Hickey become «one of the standout young players in Europe»? BBC Sport Scotland asked the man who gave him his debut, Craig Levein, as well as others he made an impression on at Hearts.

Hickey started his football journey at Hearts then joined Celtic aged 12 and spent four years playing in their academy teams before deciding he had a better chance of first-team minutes elsewhere.

That prompted a move back to Tynecastle in 2018. And, in the penultimate Scottish Premiership game of the 2018-19 season, the 16-year-old was given his senior debut in a 2-1 defeat at Aberdeen.

He started the following match, a 2-1 loss at Celtic, then a week later made history when the sides met again, becoming the youngest player to start a Scottish Cup final in the modern era as Hearts were beaten 2-1 at Hampden.

«I had absolutely no worries about putting him in against Aberdeen,» says Levein. «He played because he was training so well. I watched all the youth games and he steadily improved from the period where he came back to us from Celtic.

»I had a little bit