West Ham opted against making a move for left-back Aaron Hickey and gave Brentford a “free run” to secure the Scottish international’s signature, according to ExWHUemployee.

The insider source says both the Hammers and Arsenal had been tracking the teenager but neither club ended up tabling a formal bid for the defender:

“It looks like Brentford expect to sign Aaron Hickey, the left-back from Bologna, which really surprises me – about £19m for him. Arsenal were linked with him, West Ham were linked with him. West Ham were interested, so I’m not sure why we’re allowing Brentford to have a free run on him.”

It’s certainly a head-scratcher. Manager David Moyes is thought to be interested in providing Aaron Cresswell with some competition on the left-hand side of defence.

Hickey is a young, promising fullback who would have fitted the type of profile the team would have been looking for, but it seems the club’s priorities lay elsewhere.

Ex has mentioned that Benfica’s Alejandro Grimaldo is another player of interest to West Ham and, considering it has been reported that the Spaniard could be available for as little as £6m, it may be the case that the Irons have plumped for the cheaper option.