Arsenal are yet to submit an official bid to Bologna for Aaron Hickey, football.london understands. Although, Mikel Arteta and technical director Edu do retain an interest in the defender.
It was revealed last month that signing a new left-back to provide cover as well as competition for Kieran Tierney was high on the agenda for the Gunners duo heading into the summer transfer window with Edu hopeful of securing an £18million deal for the 19-year-old.
Furthermore, given Hickey is also capable of operating at right-back or even at right wing-back - as shown on his competitive debut for Scotland against Ukraine earlier in the month - he could also be used as cover for Takehiro Tomiyasu following his injury problems during the second half of last season.
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Despite the teenager being on international duty for the past fortnight, it hasn't stopped any speculation regarding a potential move to Arsenal. However, there have been reports of fellow Premier League clubs Newcastle and Brentford joining the race for his signature.
Meanwhile, Italian news outlet Gazzetta dello Sport recently claimed that a deal worth roughly £21.75million was nearing completion and was "very likely" to happen at some point this summer.
With that said, football.london 's Arsenal Writer Kaya Kaynak appeared on The Arsenal Way's PressBox YouTube show to deliver an update on the Hickey situation and explained no bid has been submitted due to the Gunners being well-stocked in the full-back area and with one eye on emerging talents such as Lino Sousa and Brooke Norton-Cuffy.
Furthermore, it's understood that whilst Arsenal remain keen on a deal for the teenager, much could depend on what happens with Nuno Tavares, who has been linked with a loan move to Atalanta, as it's unlikely that Cedric Soares will be departing the Emirates Stadium this summer.
"Arsenal haven't bid for him yet," Kaya revealed. "They're interested in him but they haven't quite bid for him yet. I think Brentford (and Newcastle) have also shown an interest so that's something to keep an eye on. He's a very good player, so they have to get a move on if they want that deal over the line.
"It's tricky though because Arsenal have four full-backs and they also have two bright young full-back prospects in terms of Lino Sousa on the left and Brooke Norton-Cuffy on the right so they don't want to damage that balance. Obviously, if Cedric (Soares) or Nuno Tavares were to leave then maybe you start to look at Hickey and you start bringing him in.
"But Cedric, I've been told doesn't want to leave and I don't think he's been given any indication that Arsenal want to sell him. Nuno Tavares, as we've seen the reports linking him with a move to Italy, but I don't know if that will happen. If that happens then maybe they'll push ahead with the Aaron Hickey interest, but for now I think it's just the case of just holding off and seeing what happens on that one.
"It's annoying, I know Arsenal fans want deals to be done but it's sort of that weird stage of the season where you do need to just see how the cards fall on the table."
