Man Utd transfer statement makes clear where Arsenal messed up with Ayden Heaven

Manchester United have made it clear where Arsenal went wrong with Ayden Heaven after signing the teenager.

The 18-year-old has signed a deal with the Red Devils until June 2029, with the option for an additional year. He is expected to join Ruben Amorim's first-team squad straight away.

It's understood that a clearer path to regular first-team football was the deciding factor in the highly-rated central defender's decision to leave United's rivals. That was underscored by Red Devils technical director Jason Wilcox in his statement announcing the transfer on Saturday.

Wilcox said: “We are delighted that Ayden has joined Manchester United.” He then highlighted the key difference in how United intend to utilise Heaven compared to Mikel Arteta: "He is already an extremely talented defender who is ready to join our first-team squad."

Arteta had previously praised Hale End graduate Heaven, whom he promoted to first team last summer during Arsenal's pre-season training. Heaven featured against United at the SoFi stadium during the US tour, where his mistake led to Rasmus Hojlund scoring.

Following the match, Arsenal boss Arteta commented: "I don’t know how many players are able to do that on a stage like this [at his age]. He’s lost a duel against [ Rasmus Hojlund], 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."

Heaven, who signed for Arsenal in 2019 as a 13-year-old, continued his development over the course of the season and made his debut in October as a substitute in an EFL Cup victory at Preston. But despite being included in several matchday squads, he failed to make any appearances in the Champions League or Premier League, unlike fellow academy graduates Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly, who Arteta showed faith in.

That was in spite of injuries to the likes of Riccardo Calafiori, Gabriel Magalhaes, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu leaving Arsenal stretched defensively at times this campaign. Just a handful of appearances, like those afforded to Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri, may have been enough to convince Heaven to stick around.

Instead, he'll now be teaming up with Chido Obi-Martin – who joined United from the north London club last summer. Obi-Martin has made waves in the United youth ranks with nine goals in as many matches.

After sealing his move to Manchester, Heaven told the official United website: “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.”