Ayden Heaven joined Manchester United in January and quickly made a name for himself as a prospect for the future.
The 18-year-old centre-back signed for Manchester United on 1 February and has shown plenty of promise in his first six months at Old Trafford.
Heaven made his United debut in the FA Cup win over Fulham, before following that up with impressive displays against Arsenal in the Premier League and Real Sociedad in the Europa League.
The former Arsenal academy star sustained an injury blow against Leicester City which kept him out of action for a while, although he recovered in time to be part of Ruben Amorim’s squad at the end of the campaign.
Along with the rest of the United first team, Heaven was in Asia for the post-season tour and scored in the 3-1 win over Hong Kong in China.
With two centre-backs leaving United this month, including Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans, Heaven has a chance to make more appearances for the Red Devils next term.
Ayden Heaven explains Manchester United transfer
After joining United midway through the 2024/25 season, Heaven went straight into Amorim’s first team rather than being eased into Academy football.
Heaven will go down as one of the bargains of the year after costing United £1.5m to sign from rivals Arsenal.
In his first-ever feature interview as a United player, Heaven has told ManUtd.com about two of his reasons for leaving his boyhood club, Arsenal.
“The opportunities that the young players have got here in the past,” Heaven said.
“I think United had the most minutes given to teenagers last season [2023/24]. That convinced me to come here.
“And the people and the fans here are quite loving, and I felt that when I was playing. They’re so supportive.”
Heaven has made six competitive appearances for United since joining the club, and he explained that Amorim told him that he’d suit his style of play.
“He just said that our play style will suit me, because they play three at the back and I play on the left of the three, so that allows me to run with the ball,” Heaven continued.
“That’s one of my strengths. And defending out wide is one of my strengths as well.”
Heaven hails Mason Mount for helping him settle at Man Utd
It can be difficult for players moving clubs midway through the season and trying to find a way to settle in.
That was made more difficult for Heaven by the fact he is such a young player, arriving with little experience playing senior football.
However, Heaven has hailed Mason Mount for the support he showed to the young defender following his transfer from Arsenal.
Heaven said: “The first day I was here, at Carrington, he came up to me and introduced himself and we had a good 10-minute conversation.
“He reminded me that we played each other in pre-season and he remembered a tackle I hit him with in the first minute!
“So, yeah, me and Mason are good friends. And obviously Bruno [Fernandes], as well, the captain, he’s helped. Patrick [Chinazaekpere Dorgu] as well, we signed together, basically the same week and we’ve been together since then.”