Who is Ayden Heaven? Manchester United's reported latest signing

The Red Devils have signed another Arsenal academy player.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Manchester United are expected to recruit 18-year-old defender Ayden Heaven from Arsenal after an insider at the Red Devils’ academy said early this morning that a “full agreement” had been reached.

🚨🔴 Ayden Heaven to Manchester United, here we go!Exclusive story from last week confirmed as 18 year old centre back’s set to leave Arsenal and join #MUFC.Medical booked after he rejected new deal from Arsenal and Eintracht approaches.Agreement being formally sealed. pic.twitter.com/Q12q8JC2fs

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 28, 2025

Earlier this morning, United “beat Barcelona and Eintracht Frankfurt” to acquire the defensive talent, winning the race to sign him.

Heaven joined the Gunners in 2019 after beginning his football career at West Ham United. He has played a significant role for the U21s over the past two seasons and made the senior squad against Preston in the Carabao Cup earlier this season.

Following Chido Obi Martin’s transfer to United last year, Heaven would become the second young player from Arsenal to join United recently once the transfer is announced officially.

Who is Ayden Heaven? Manchester United’s latest signing

As a young player attempting to emulate his early idols, Lionel Messi, Alexis Sanchez, and Theo Walcott, Heaven was released by West Ham.

Upon his release, he gave trials at every club in London, and as Arsenal was his boyhood team, being accepted into the academy was a dream come true. After a notable growth spurt at the age of 14, the decision was made to transition as a defender.

Heaven started observing Alessandro Bastoni, Antonio Rudiger, and Virgil van Dijk in addition to William Saliba, a player with whom he has a strong personal relationship.

Heaven spends a lot of his free time watching the top defenders in Europe in an effort to become a player capable of playing in the Premier League.

He faces challenges, though, as young centre-backs in English football have a harder time making an impression than players in any other position.

Heaven was a member of three young players, along with Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, who received individual admiration from manager Mikel Arteta in August 2024 for their involvement in Arsenal’s first-team training throughout the summer pre-season.

He was one of the match-day substitutes in the Premier League‘s North London derby against Spurs the following month. On October 30, 2024, he made his Arsenal debut by assisting the team in their 3–0 EFL Cup victory away at Preston North End.

Ayden Heaven’s playing style

Heaven is regarded as having the ability to play both centre and left-sided defence in addition to box-to-box central midfield.

Given that Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-3 style depends on centre-backs who are at ease stepping forward into their respective channels, Heaven’s left-footedness may be the reason United have targeted the Arsenal youth product.

Lisandro Martinez is the team’s lone left-footed centre-back, but Luke Shaw can potentially play well there if healthy, though there is a lot of doubt about his availability. This indicates that there is a spot in the team that a left-footed defender like Heaven can fill right away.

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