Manchester United have confirmed the signing of Ayden Heaven from Arsenal. The 18-year-old defender was heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford for much of the January transfer window, with Ruben Amorim eager to lay the foundations to his long-term project.
football.london understands that the Gunners shall receive significant compensation for Heaven, who doesn’t warrant a transfer fee having not signed a professional contract at the Emirates Stadium. Despite losing the teenager and, previously Chido Obi-Martin not too long ago, Arsenal remain ‘very calm’ with the situation.
Heaven announced his departure from the North London outfit shortly before an official statement from either club. On Instagram, he wrote: “As the time has come for me to move on, I wanted to say how grateful I am to the good people at Arsenal who supported me during my time with the club.
“As a North London boy, I lived the dream of training and playing at Hale End and London Colney, as well as making my professional debut in the League Cup. A big thank you too to Arsenal fans.”
Upon signing a four-and-a-half-year contract with United, which includes the option of an additional year, Heaven expressed his delight at the deal. Speaking to the official club website, the England Under-19 international said: “I am incredibly proud to join Manchester United.
“I’m grateful to everyone who helped make this dream a reality. There is so much that I want to achieve in the game, I’ll be giving everything to continue my development and become the best player that I can be.”
Heaven will immediately join United’s first-team squad. Meanwhile, Jason Wilcox, the technical director at United, said: “We are delighted that Ayden has joined Manchester United.
“He is already an extremely talented defender who is ready to join our first-team squad in order to maximise his development. This club has a phenomenal track record of supporting young players and we believe that Ayden is in the perfect place to reach his excellent potential.”
football.london understands Mikel Arteta and the club are more than happy with the exciting talent still at their disposal. Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly have recently forced themselves into the Arsenal first-team setup, quickly establishing themselves a key players.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the Gunners’ clash with Manchester City this weekend, Arteta was quizzed on their progression. The Spaniard said: “First of all, they earned the right for us to trust them, that’s certainly the case with those two.
“In pre-season we probably wouldn’t have projected how many minutes those two were going to play in the league and in the Champions League, probably we wouldn’t be talking about the numbers that they have already achieved.
“That’s again credit to them and everybody that is contributing to that, and if they continue to perform, they will continue to play…”
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