The towering centre-back is the second teenager to have left the Gunners for Old Trafford as part of an aggressive youth transfer strategy
Manchester United versus Arsenal has long been one of the Premier League's biggest rivalries, and although the Gunners have come out on top in most of the battles on the pitch in recent years, the Red Devils have lately been winning a different kind of war: the fight to attract the most talented youngsters.
Not content with prising away Robin van Persie in 2012 or Alexis Sanchez in 2018, United are now coming for Arsenal's most prized youth assets. After snaffling striking sensation Chido Obi-Martin in October, they have lured the towering yet highly-cultivated centre-back Ayden Heaven to Old Trafford and hope he will soon be pushing his way into Ruben Amorim's side.
United have long coveted another left-footed central defender to compete with Lisandro Martinez, turning away from a transfer for Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite last summer after baulking at the potential cost. And now they have landed on a perfect solution, a very talented 18-year-old with a high ceiling who will cost them next to nothing.
The Red Devils are world-renowned for their development and promotion of young players, having had a homegrown player in their matchday squad for every competitive game since 1937. And now they are becoming even more proactive with recruiting youth, aggressively pursuing the top emerging talents from around Europe with the twin aim of raising their market value for future sales and arming Amorim with youthful, energetic and ambitious personnel who can learn and perfect his style of play.
GOAL profiles England Under-18 international Heaven, who has had to deal with plenty of rejection on his road to Old Trafford…
GettyWhere it all began
Heaven grew up in Edmonton in north London, honing his skills at local side Edmonton United before taking his first formal steps as a footballer in east London by joining West Ham's academy, a renowned talent factory that produced the likes of Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand and Joe Cole in the 1990s and more recently Declan Rice. Heaven, however, did not make the grade and was let go by the Irons when he was aged 12. Being rejected by a Premier League club can be a brutal setback for aspiring footballers but Heaven trusted in his own ability.
"Initially, I was down because I was there for a number of years but in my mind, I knew that I was good enough to get back to academy level – I just needed the right opportunity," he told Arsenal's website. "I had the mentality that this is not the end of my story, there was still more to come."
Heaven took a step down by training with amateur side Levels to keep his fitness up and that led to him getting a trial at Chelsea. He had to deal with more rejection as the Blues decided against taking him on after two months. He was on the verge of joining fellow west Londoners Fulham but his family were not keen due to the lengthy journey from Edmonton. Arsenal were showing interest at the same time and they appealed to Heaven's heart and head. He joined the Gunners's Hale End academy in November 2019, not long after turning 13.
"Luckily at the time, Arsenal were knocking on the door too and that made more sense given that, firstly I’m a fan, but also the location was much more convenient, Hale End was only a 15-minute drive, so everything fell into place perfectly," Heaven said. "When they officially decided to sign me, it was the best feeling ever. Signing for the club I’ve supported and my mum was so happy for me – she even cried."
Heaven played as a box-to-box midfielder during his early days at Hale End, the highlight of which was a tremendous solo goal against Chelsea's U16s, running from his own box through the middle before rounding the goalkeeper to score. He later slotted into central defence, establishing himself as a regular in the U18 side.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportThe big break
Heaven progressed through Arsenal's ranks and after impressing in the UEFA Youth League campaign he was included in the matchday squad for the Gunners' Champions League last-16 first leg at Porto in 2023-24. He was then named in Mikel Arteta's squad for last summer's pre-season tour of the US.
He was included in the line-up against Man Utd at the SoFi Stadium and got off to a nightmare start when Rasmus Hojlund span away from him to give the Red Devils the lead. But, rather like when rejected by West Ham and Chelsea, Heaven showed mental resilience and put the mistake behind him, delivering a composed performance thereafter as Arsenal came from behind to win 2-1.
Arteta was delighted with the youngster's response. "Very impressive. At 17, I don’t know how many players are able to do that on a stage like this," he said. "He’s lost a duel against one of the strongest and fastest players in the world, it can happen. But the reaction afterwards, the composure, the quality, the body language that he had were all remarkable. I’m really happy with him."
How it's going
Heaven continued to train with the first team when the new season began and he was given his competitive debut when Arsenal visited Preston North End in the Carabao Cup in October, coming on for the final 10 minutes in the 3-0 win, in which his close friend and fellow Hale End graduate Ethan Nwaneri had starred.
The defender decided against following Nwaneri in signing professional terms with Arsenal though, and began to attract interest from other clubs having failed to make his Premier League debut to date. He flew out to Germany to visit Eintracht Frankfurt and looked set to follow the lead of Jadon Sancho, Jude Bellingham, Jamie Gittens and the many other English youngsters who have looked to the Bundesliga to get a taste of regular first-team football.
But United, who have taken a real interest in the recruitment of young players since Sir Jim Ratcliffe's partial takeover, have beaten the Germans to the punch. The teenager is set to move to Old Trafford in the January window having rejected Arsenal's last-minute offer as the Gunners pulled out all the stops to try to keep him. It has been reported he is considered a first-team signing.
Getty Biggest strengths
Heaven's 6'2 In frame gives him a natural advantage over his opponents while he is also physically strong, which gives him an edge attacking and defending set pieces. But he is much more than a physical specimen. He has a flair for passing out and progressing the play, making him adept at baiting the press and sucking opponents towards him.
The defender's mentality and his ability to overcome setbacks, like being schooled by Hojlund, also stands out. Arsenal journalist Charles Watts told : "He got twisted and turned inside out by Hojlund and you're like 'This is going to be a tough afternoon for him', he was 17 then. But he responded and played really well in that game.
"That impressed a lot of people, that he had the mentality to brush off getting pushed aside by Hojlund for that goal. He is highly rated, he's trained an awful lot with Arsenal, they didn't want to lose him."
