Upcoming Scottish talents outside the SPFL (Part One)

In light of the most recent International break, I’ve been inspired to write about the up and coming young Scottish players who will undoubtedly be fighting for a place in Steve Clarke’s senior side sooner rather than later. 

I’ll be picking five promising Scottish youngsters and profiling them. Each player has to be under the age of twenty-one and playing their football outside of Scotland. Those who play in academies outside of Scotland are also eligible. 

We’ll look at ten players over two articles. Let’s waste no more time and begin. 

Aaron Hickey 

Probably the most predictable of names to appear in this article is Aaron Hickey. The full back moved to Bologna as an eighteen year old after making thirty-four appearances for Hearts in Scotland. During this time, Hickey impressed as much that some big names were circling such as Celtic and Bayern Munich, the defender represented the former at youth level, however Hickey opted to make the move to Italy. The Scot signed a four year deal with Bologna and has since made twenty  appearances for the club. Hickey initially struggled in Italy, making just twelve appearances for the side in his maiden season due to a range of issues such as injuries and Covid. However, in the current campaign, the left back has started every Serie A fixture for Bologna, scoring two goals along the way. The former Hearts man has certainly given Steve Clarke something to think about at International level although Hickey is distinctly unfortunate to be a left back at a time where Scotland have two of the best in the business. 

Lewis Fiorini

You may not be familiar with the name Lewis Fiorini and I’ll be honest, I hadn’t until I begun research into this topic. The nineteen year old plays for Lincoln City and is on loan at the English League One side from Manchester City. This is the nineteen year old’s second loan spell away from City after impressing for NAC Breda in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of football in the Netherlands. In his time in Holland, Fiorini scored five goals and registered three assists in thirty-two appearances. He’s continued his goalscoring form into this season, scoring three goals in eleven appearances for Lincoln City despite only starting six of those matches. These exploits led to Fiorini being nominated for the PFA Fans League One Player of the Month for September. The English-born, attack-minded midfielder has already represented Scotland at under-sixteen, seventeen, nineteen and most recently, under twenty one level so his International allegiances seem to be nailed down. Fiorini signed a new five year deal at Manchester City in the summer, disposing the club has faith in him. Monitoring his progress at Lincoln this campaign should be intriguing. 

Kyle Joseph 

Keeping on with the theme of Scots who play in English League One, the next up on this list is Kyle Joseph. The twenty year old broke through at Wigan Athletic in the 20/21 season, scoring five goals and assisting one in eighteen matches. This form caused some big clubs to be circling for Joseph’s signature in the summer such as Celtic, Rangers and even some Premier League sides. However, the striker opted to sign for Championship club Swansea City. Joseph made two appearances for Swansea in the EFL Cup before joining Cheltenham Town on loan for the season. In six starts for the Robins in League One so far, the Scot has scored three and set one up; averaging a goal contribution every one hundred and twenty-three minutes. On the International scene, Joseph has made six under nineteen appearances for Scotland along with playing once for Scot Gemmill’s under twenty-ones. There isn’t an abundance of young Scottish strikers coming through the ranks, thus there are just two to feature in this article. Should Joseph keep up his current goal scoring form, he may find himself with more consistent game time for Scottish youth sides. 

Elliot Watt 

Bradford City regular Elliot Watt is by far the most experienced player we’ve spoke of so far. The twenty-one year old earnestly featured in every one of Bradford City’s forty-six matches in English League Two last season. He’s also yet to miss one this campaign. Watt is a central midfielder who has played for Scotland at several youth levels including under twenty-one but has not done so since 2018. The midfielder came through at Wolves before joining Carlisle United on loan for a season. After spending the 19/20 season in the North of England, Watt signed a two year deal with Bradford City. This contract expires at the end of the current campaign and Watt could leave for free should the Bantams fail to tie him down to a new deal. His signing could be a shrewd one for any Scottish Premiership side; it would be interesting to see Watt North of the border after making a total of eighty-five senior appearances for multiple clubs in England. You feel Watt will have to be plying his trade at a higher level than English League Two in order to even come into the mind of Steve Clarke although a move to Scotland could facilitate him in doing so. 

Cieran Slicker 

The only goalkeeper to appear on this list is Cieran Slicker. This proves that young, promising Scottish keepers are few and far between. The nineteen year old is part of the academy of Manchester City and has made several appearances for various youth teams of the current Premier League champions. Slicker has also turned out at under seventeen, eighteen and most latterly under twenty-one level for Scotland. The City man is an agile shot-stopper and has spoke of his admiration for Celtic keeper Joe Hart. Slicker spoke of his relationship with the former England number one and the advice he received from the thirty-four year old about how he should never give up on his first team aspirations when speaking to The Glasgow Times. As we spoke about, there are not many young Scottish goalkeepers. Slicker’s future looks to be reassuringly bright considering he is playing regularly for Scotland at youth level while only churning out appearances for Man City’s youth sides. In addition, he is still a teenager. Uncertainty remains over whether Slicker will end up on loan or not but in all likelihood though, he will leave the Etihad on a temporary basis at one point or another. 

Unfortunately, that’s all for part one. Be sure to look out for part two in the coming weeks which will look at five more young Scots to watch outside of the SPFL. 

Thank you for reading this article. If you have any thoughts or opinions, leave a comment below. Also, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @Josh_Footblog for more Scottish football content.