Jim Jefferies admits Hearts WANT one of the club’s circling Tynecastle teen Aaron Hickey to make a move and kick-start a bidding war.
Hickey is being chased by Bologna, as revealed by Record Sport , while Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich are also eyeing the full-back with a view to him moving into their development side.
Jefferies returned to Tynecastle as sporting director last month and has revealed Hearts were eager to tie the 18-year-old down on a longer contract.
But with less than 12 months remaining on his current deal the Jambos are now looking to maximise any fee they can pull in for their prize asset.
No offer has yet been received for the player who has also been linked with Aston Villa while former boss Craig Levein said Celtic tried to sign the player - valued around £1.6m - "five or six times".
“Hearts tried hard to talk to him about a new contract,” Jefferies told the Scotsman.
“What we don’t want is for him to just see out his contract and then leave as a free agent. We would get development money but that wouldn’t be £1.6m!
“A whole load of clubs have been watching him so we want one to make a move so that we don’t lose out.
“You are hoping that clubs follow through their interest and there is competition to sign him.
“If one of them bites the bullet and makes a bid then that might bring others out and that would be even better because that pushes the price up.”
Hearts boss Robbie Neilson is keen to add further new recruits to his squad ahead of the Championship season starting in just over two months.
Money was banked with the sale of Sean Clare to Oxford United on Thursday. And a big fee for Hickey would help bolster the Jambos’ kitty further.
“If we lose him we want to hopefully get the true value for him and that then helps us improve the team,” Jefferies added.
“Robbie wants to bring in his own players, every manager does, but the targets depend on how much money you have to spend.”
