Amorim's BEST signing is already at Man Utd

Tom Weber

Updated: 10 Mar 2025 14:23 CDT
4 min read

Ruben Amorim believes that Manchester United have secured a hugely promising player in January signing Ayden Heaven.

The 18-year-old centre-back arrived from Arsenal in January after opting not to extend his contract at the Emirates. His move to Old Trafford, which could have taken place in the summer, was brought forward, with Man Utd paying a €1.8 million transfer fee to secure his services immediately.

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Arsenal had been keen to keep Heaven, but ultimately Man Utd managed to poach another highly-rated talent from the Hale End academy after Chido Obi last year.

After impressing in Arsenal's youth system, Heaven was swiftly integrated into Man Utd's first-team setup. He made his debut for the Red Devils in the recent FA Cup loss to Fulham before playing the entire second half of Man Utd's 1-1 draw with his former club on Sunday.

Heaven has earned rave reviews for his assured performance in what was his Premier League bow.

An excellent piece of business by Man Utd

Head coach Ruben Amorim praised the teenager for being 'relaxed' but also warned against him becoming too nonchalant. “Ayden’s so relaxed," he said.

"He seems so relaxed that sometimes he's too relaxed. But I think we have a player there, so now we have to control and to tell him that was just the [first] game, et cetera, et cetera."

Pundits Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards were also left impressed by Heaven's performance. "I thought he did really well," Lineker began on his The Rest is Football podcast.

"He looked comfortable, he looked assured, couple of important tackles and blocks. He did really well in the second half," Shearer concurred before Richards stated: "I always watch defenders when they come on - just make sure your first touch is good."

"The ball came in and he headed it away. It was brilliant! That's when you can get the confidence. You just want to do the basics and I thought he did the basically really well when he came on for [Leny] Yoro."

Given his price, his age and his evident potential, Heaven has all the trappings of going down as an excellent piece of business. His signing was quite understated, overshadowed as it was by Man Utd's €30m pursuit of Patrick Dorgu.

It is an exercise in futility trying to predict anything connected to Man Utd at this moment in time, but Heaven could very well become one of the shrewdest and potentially best, most cost-effective signings of the Amorim era.