Manchester United must find Ayden Heaven a new club in January, especially following his unconvincing showing on Thursday.
Ruben Amorim fielded an unusual trio at the back against West Ham United, with the 19-year-old slotting in between Noussair Mazraoui and Luke Shaw.
Unfortunately for Heaven, he endured a ‘torrid’ first half, as Samuel Luckhurst put it, even though Man Utd didn’t concede a goal. Hence, it was no surprise to see him hooked for Leny Yoro at the interval. The contest eventually ended 1-1, with Soungoutou Mangassa responding to Diogo Dalot’s opener.
After the match, the Manchester Evening News gave Heaven the lowest rating among United players, grading his display as a 4/10.
Ayden Heaven produced an under-par display in Man Utd vs West Ham clash
Thursday’s action was certainly a setback for the young Englishman, even though he remains one of the most promising centre-backs in the country.
The teenager, who started his career at West Ham’s academy before joining Arsenal, was poached by Man Utd last season.
In February, the yongster made his big breakthrough due to a major injury crisis. Heaven was hailed for his ‘fantastic’ displays, but ended up suffering a knee injury against Leicester, which halted his momentum.
The defender never earned another run in the starting lineup afterwards. In fact, Thursday’s game marked his maiden Premier League start this season.
He had only gotten the nod in the humiliating defeat against Grimsby Town in the Carabao, where he had also failed to shine.
Why Heaven must be loaned out in January
After two under-par displays as a starter, Amorim will likely be reluctant to play Heaven any time soon.
Moreover, it should be remembered that the former Arsenal youngster only got the nod due to a series of circumstances that played in his favour. Matthijs de Ligt suffered a slight knock ahead of the midweek contest, Harry Maguire hasn’t yet recovered from his injury, Lisandro Martinez isn’t fit enough to start after his lengthy layoff, and Yoro was rested after back-to-back poor displays.
Had one of these four aforementioned defenders been considered suitable for a starting role against West Ham, he would have been favoured over Heaven.
Thus, we don’t expect the stars to line up in the young man’s favour any time soon, especially with Man Utd only playing once per week.
| Heaven’s stats in 25/26 | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| Premier League | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Carabao Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| National League Cuo | 1 | 0 | 0 |
At this stage, the young Englishman finds himself in a delicate spot. He’s seemingly too green for a prominent role at Man Utd’s senior team, but he’s probably too good to be relegated to the academy level.
Hence, the best solution would be to loan him out in January, either to another Premier League side that is willing to grant him sufficient playing time or a Championship side.
So while Kobbie Mainoo and Joshua Zirkzee have been linked with the exit door more than any other United player, Heaven is another case that requires INEOS’ swift attention.
I’ve had enough of Amorim to last me a lifetime.
Heaven is 19yrs old. He got a yellow card after 8mins. That was a disgusting decision by a very poor ref. The same ref didn’t issue a 2nd yellow card to Wan Bissaka for a shocking tackle halfway through the 2nd half. Heaven spent 37mins afraid to tackle due to that poor decision by a poor ref. People who want him out would be better to take themselves out. If he was still at Arsenal he would have got 7/10 but he plays for United and that makes him fair game for people who don’t know if a ball is blown up or stuffed.
What a load of garbage – Heaven played all right
He’s been out for quite a while so you can’t expect him to hit the ground running as for going out on loan look at Amass the most stupid placement for a young player in a club that has had major problems which have been made even worse by a further points deduction which clown decided it would be the place to get good playing time his belt and Amass should be recalled in January but instead we’ll probably go out and buy another dud like Dorgu